Refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Serbia: A Study of Refugee Selectivity

Abstract

This paper examines selectivity of refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina in Serbia with respect to certain demographic and socio-economic structures. Analyses indicated that the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of these refugees are significantly more favourable than those of other refugees in Serbia and those in the place of origin. The results show that refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina who, because of war, have sought refuge in Serbia are positively selective compared to the population that moved shorter distances (i.e. within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina) for the same reason.Their educational level and participation in the Belgrade workforce, the main urban and functional centre and pole of demographic concentration, support the hypothesis that despite the forced nature of their migration, movement to Serbia as a destination rather than migration within Bosnia and Herzegovina was partly determined by economic factors in keeping with the structural characteristics of the refugees. The directions of recent refugee migrations from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia have continued the historic trend of previous migrations on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. To be specific, the centres with the highest concentrations of recent refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina are precisely those municipalities with the greatest number of persons who migrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina before 1991.

Population Growth in the Border Villages of Srem, Serbia

“…for those from hilly terrain, it is more difficult to adjust to life on the plains and vice versa; personal reasons, for example forming the family, etc. Some of these answers coincide with the results of Pilkington (1998) and Luki} and Nikitovi} (2004).…”

Years of Refugee Life in Serbia – Challenges for a New Beginning:stay or Return Home?

“…The majority of the refugees in Serbia were ethnic Serbs, 93% (Matković 1999, Lukić and Nikitović 2004). Moving to Serbia also occurred on the eve of the collapse of the former Yugoslavia.…”

“…Those processes intensified in 1991 with secessions of Slovenia and Croatia and especially in 1992 and 1993 when the civil wars in Croatia and Bosnia broke out. With the escalation of wars in Croatia (1991) and Bosnia (1992), over 200,000 people came to Serbia and the status of refugees was officially given to people originating from Bosnia (Lukić and Nikitović 2004). The United Nations' Security Council imposed sanctions to FR Yugoslavia in 1993.…”

“…A complicated political situation, poor resourcefulness and hesitancy of international factors to get involved more decisively in problem-solving, as well as international isolation of FRY, additionally complicated the situation of taking care and protecting the refugees. The situation of refugee population from SFRY in new living conditions and new surroundings was studied by demographers in Serbia (Knežević 1992, Kondić 1997, Petrović 1997, Milosavljević 1997, Grečić 1998, Cvetković 1998, Jakovljević 1998, Matkovic 1999, Lukić and Nikitović 2004, Nikitović 2005, Stevanović 2005, Lađević and Stanković 2006, Nikitović and Lukić 2009) and in the world (Hammond 1999, Black 2002, Black and Gent 2004, Ambroso 2006, Harvey 2006, Eastmond 2006. Their work was the methodological and scientific base for this research.…”

Expanding Opportunity Structures

“…Migration is selective, and not all rural inhabitants migrate (Curran 2002;Kanbur and Rapoport 2005;Liang and Chen 2007;Lukic and Nikitovic 2004;VanWey 2005). Potential migrants are a heterogeneous group who respond differentially to migration incentives, and their responses may be contingent on migrant capacities since the shift from a rural to an urban ecology entails changes in patterns of employment, education, and child productivity (Neill 2007).…”