18 May 2018

Embassies of France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom and United States of America, the Delegation of the European Union/EU Special Representative and the Office of the High Representative welcome the BiH Council of Ministers’ adoption of the action plan with emergency measures for dealing with the migrant crisis on May 16.

The BiH authorities on all levels should not politicize the migration issue. Instead, they must work together to effectively address security, humanitarian, and other challenges related to the increased influx of migrants to BiH.

In light of today’s incident, we call upon BiH authorities on all levels to support and cooperate with the state-government in the exercise of its constitutional responsibility for “immigration, refugee and asylum policy and regulation.” We hope today’s event will turn into an opportunity to develop more efficient coordination methods to deal with the current migration crisis.

International standards require that authorities ensure that migrants receive appropriate accommodation and care and be treated humanely and with dignity.

The International Community will continue assisting BiH authorities in their efforts to effectively manage migration-related challenges.