MORE than 600,000 citizens have left Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last ten years, according to unofficial data from the Union for Sustainable Return and Integrations in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The number of people leaving the country is growing year by year.

“We have so many sad towns”

“As of 2021, our volunteers recorded the departure of 484,996 citizens. To this number should be added the fact that in 2022 the Posavina and West Herzegovina cantons lost 15,000 residents, of whom about 70 percent are young people, mostly from Odžak, Domaljevac, Šamac and Modriča”, said Union president Mirhunisa Zukić in an interview for Avaz . The mass departure of young people is also present in Doboj and Derventa, Teslić, Bosanska Gradiška, Prijedor, Prnjavor…

“The percentage of young people leaving Ljubuški, Široki Brijeg and Grude is as high as about 80 percent. Grahovo is a ghost town, schools in Drvar are closing and serve only for voting in elections, eastern Bosnia is becoming deserted. We have so many sad towns and, according to the data received, we estimate that 600,000 citizens have emigrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the last ten years”, Zukić stated. The data is still being collected and processed.

Source: index.hr