Overview
Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo* (Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999)), have comprised a key— and shifting—migration route for asylum-seekers and migrants seeking refuge and better lives in western and northern Europe. While numbers remain far off the 2015/16 peak, when hundreds of thousands of Syrians, Iraqis, Afghans and others travelled or reached Europe via the ‘Balkan route’, it remains a key channel for people on the move—and an increasingly urgent policy challenge within and beyond Europe. Addressing mixed movements of refugees and migrants via the ‘Balkan route’ requires a collective, coordinated and holistic response.
Mixed movements in the Western Balkans are generally comprised of people who have previously transited through a number of countries, including European Union (EU) Member States where they could have or might have sought international protection (and in some instances, may have been granted international protection). Many are compelled to move onward by delays in asylum procedures, the intention to join family members in other EU Member States, and for perceived better conditions elsewhere.
While several routes exist, two main corridors are used by the majority of people on the move— one via Turkey-Greece-North Macedonia-Serbia and a second route traversing Turkey-Greece-Albania-Montenegro-Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Refugees and migrants face manifold risks, hardships and dangers on either route. States respond with a range of deterrence measures, including resorting to systematic, and sometimes violent pushbacks at the borders along the route, in contravention of established international human rights and refugee protection principles and norms. The result is that people are frequently stranded along the route, often in dire, dangerous conditions.
Asylum-seekers and migrants therefore rely primarily on smuggling networks to facilitate secondary movement, exposing them to a range of protection risks including physical abuse, robbery, gender-based violence (GBV), human trafficking, and, in some instances, arbitrary detention. Despite—or perhaps because of— the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the Western Balkans region is currently experiencing a significant uptick in new arrivals from the Middle East and Central Asia, underscoring the urgency to find new solutions to a longstanding and everevolving challenge.
Against this backdrop, capitalizing on the tradition of hosting forcibly displaced persons, UNHCR’s strategy aims to support the strengthening of national asylum systems and related processes in the Western Balkans to provide protection and viable solutions to refugees and asylum seekers. This will be done within the framework of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) which recognizes that sustainable solutions can only be achieved through solidarity, responsibility-sharing, and collaboration across all sectors of society.
Complementary and joined-up approaches to strengthen asylum management and foster possibilities for integration and inclusion are at the core of UNHCR’s strategic engagement in the region. Enhanced, effective engagement with partners is therefore foundational to UNHCR’s new approach. In particular—and given the nature and profiles of populations on the move in the Western Balkans—the strategy is premised upon continued collaboration and complementarity with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The strategy outlines two multifaceted priority areas of focus, namely: (1) improving protection and response capacity, and (2) creating conditions for solutions for refugees.
Building on its 40-year presence in the region, UNHCR is well-positioned to support its transition to one that welcomes, protects and includes asylum-seekers and refugees. UNHCR staff have a deep knowledge of the historical context, longstanding relationships with a national and municipal authorities, and the trust of communities familiar with the hardships of forcible displacement.
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Strategy for UNHCR Engagement in mixed movement in the Western Balkans (Revision October 2021) - World - ReliefWeb
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