Since the BiH government took over refugee status determination procedures in 2004, UNHCR has supported its capacity-building and legislative improvement. A new Law on Asylum was adopted in 2016, which predominantly meets the international standards and EU acquis requirements. Since 2004, BiH authorities granted refugee status to 19 people and subsidiary protection to 176 people. UNHCR continues to cooperate with relevant authorities to monitor and improve legislation related to asylum and its application.
From the start of 2020 until mid-June 2021, UNHCR partner Vaša Prava BiH (VP) provided 24,360 legal counselling sessions to people on the move, and 1,307 people have signed Power of Attorney with VP. UNHCR will continue to ensure that asylum-seekers and refugees have access to information and counselling regarding the asylum process in BiH.
Since 2008 UNHCR has worked closely with free legal aid civil society and local governmental actors in mapping the needs for individual interventions and ensuring free legal aid and birth registration for 96% of 1840 persons identified. Thanks to successful cooperation between all stakeholders, the number of people estimated to be at risk of statelessness has dropped from around 4,500 in 2010 to less than a hundred in 2018.
UNHCR was strongly involved in several notable projects targeting the wellbeing of internally displaces persons, returnees and refugees from the former Yugoslavia. UNHCR developed a comprehensive, evidence-based methodology for the selection of vulnerable people on the move and strengthened capacities of several BiH municipalities enabling them to improve budget management, demonstrate their knowledge of existing needs, and on that basis, mobilize the assistance of international donors.