After a decade working with populations affected by the Balkan wars, MSF ended its work in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2001.
In 2018, we returned to assist migrants and refugees escaping war and persecution in the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
As new routes open in the northern Balkans, thousands of migrants and refugees are sheltering in informal camps and squats along the Bosnian border with Croatia.
Providing care for migrants and refugees
Migrants and refugees arrive in Bosnia and Herzegovina from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq and beyond. Their objective, as for all along the Balkan route, is to flee conflict and poverty in their countries of origin and search for better living conditions for them and their families. Living conditions in the informal settlements remain alarmingly inadequate, especially during winter.
In cooperation with local medical authorities, MSF operates a small mobile clinic to address the most basic, urgent healthcare needs at migration hotspots, as well as to refer more complex yet urgent cases to secondary healthcare.