Adio, bambino!
According to all the relevant research, over two-thirds of youth wish to leave BiH forever or for a longer time period, but they still struggle to find a safe road to leave. The real problem will occur when they do manage to find one.
Some have already asked publicly, with no concern or empathy: “Why don’t they leave for somewhere better, if they can?” The fastest response would be: They are not leaving because they don’t know how and where to go. And with/by what? Mr. Haris Pašovi?, our respected and successful director, diligent and socially-aware man, that is understandably embittered by our general social apathy, in a recent interview, stated the following for one of the recent web-portals: “Youth won’t go anywhere. That’s just tell-tale talk of the agencies to conduct their reseaches and of the lecturers at seminars, because it sounds good and it pays off.”
If only it were so, Mr. Pašovi?, but sadly, it is not. They will leave. That is how they declare themselves in all the surveys (except a recent one, that was misinterpreted and will be commented on later). You have every right to question the statistics, but the following is very indicative: all the connected researches, from those performed by the national non-governmental organisations at a local level, over the very detailed international researches on the issue, all the way to the official states data gathered by different institutions, provide similar results:
– A research of the Chamber of Economy of FBiH indicate that the percentage of those who wish to leave BiH is 77%,
– Analysis of problems and requirements of youth in BiH from 2008 performed by the national Commission for Coordinating Youth Issues, states that there is 66% of youth who would leave BiH,
– Research of the Institute for Youth Development KULT from 2010 indicates that 67% of youth of Sarajevo Centar Municipality, or 64% of youth of Novo Sarajevo Municipality wish to leave BiH forever or for a longer period of time,
– Research by Glas tihe ve?ine (The Voice of a Silent Majority) from 2007, organised by UNDP and conducted by Oxford Research International states that almost two-thirds (62.6%) of the participants under the age of 30 state that they would wish to emigrate the country,
– According to the global report on competitiveness of the World Economic Forum for 2010, BiH was on the 131st place of 133 countries in the brain drain category.
Statistics are relentless and the laws are clear
Therefore, all the listed statistics state that around 2/3 of youth wish to leave BiH. There is no more room for doubts, it is not worth denying it, no matter how devastating the information were. Official information state that in the period from 1996 to 2002, 100 thousand youth left BiH.
“Not a single one of the brainiacs who weep over the destiny of youth in BiH manages to suggest concrete programmes.” – says Mr. Pašovi?.
It is ambiguous to which brainiacs the respected director referred to, but the programmes are not just suggested, but are also provided for by law (Youth Law of FBiH and Law on youth Organising in RS), but the laws are not implemented. The problem is publicly pointed to, but public support is clearly not enough. The Institute for Youth Development KULT prepared a Guide through Youth Law in BiH, in which it is precisely explained what institutional, concrete and legally based national youth care should be, so that there is no room for judgement and hypocritical demands such as “give us concrete programmes!” Let the authorised budget mercenaries develop and implement them.
Towards the Sargasso Sea
Further on, Mr. Pašovi? claims that: “Neither youth have the idea where to go and why. Where they have to work for 14 hours a day, on weekends as well. Ane there will be no mommy and daddy to live with by the age of 39 and to hit up for 10 BAM for a night out.”
One can agree with the first statement that youth have no clear idea where to go. They were limited for years by an inadequate educational system that deterred their creativity, but are also poorely informed, partly for the shallow media content on where to find the best chances for a fresh start. And when they find that out – may God help us. They will leave massively, like eels towards the Sargasso Sea to spawn, when neither dams nor rivers can prevent them in their conquest. The difference is that eels return to whence they came, and youth will not. Almost 80% of those who were awarded scholarships and completed their studies abroad do not return.
As for the “working 14 hours a day seven days a week” is concerned, our youth are well familiar with it, but only the lucky ones who have jobs. Work force exploitation in Bosnia became notoriously famous. 25% of employed “lucky” youth signed no contract with employers, so they can work for 16 or 18 hours a day, since there are no legal limitations to exploit them completely. What lacks is the information that the “far far away” 14 hours-a-day work is well paid for, that workers’ rights are respected, that most are satisfied with working 8 hours a day to live decently and that overtime is paid appropriately.
On Mother’s Milk
The truth is that most youth in BiH live with their parents – but only because they have no opportunity to leave their home, not because they refuse to live alone. While in education system, they cannot do anything on the issue, since only 7% of those in school are under scholarship that is mostly not over 100 BAM per month. It is almost impossible to study and work, since there is no work even for those who completed their studies and are pursuing work. Rent, overhead expenses, food, books, equipment – 100 BAM of scholarship cannot cover for that! As for those who stay with their parents after finishing their studies, there are numerous reasons for that. There are those who are asked by their parents to stay for a few more years, especially if they start working, so they could support the family budget a bit, so that the parents’ investment pays off. In the country of neglected parents, youth are expected to help. Or should they let parents suffer?! Anyway, there are those who would like to stay with their parents for a while longer, to save a few pennies, since living alone is expensive, and if they wish to plan their own family, they need something to start with. If the leave, they cannot save anything. To be honest, there are those who rely too much on their parents and exploit their environment, but they do not comprise enough people to make that generalisation. The neonoble sons should be excluded from this story, since their and similar stories do not comprise the BiH reality.
Got a Fiver?
Yes, it is common for youth to hit up their parents for 10 BAM for a night out, but who will give them money if not their parents? That should spark a tear in everyone’s eye, since they cannot give them 20, 30 or 50 BAM to spend on a dinner, or theatre sometimes, dressed nicely, and not to count coins every time they wish to call the waiter to get them a cheap stimulant to escape reality, the bakery as their cafeteria, not to be ashamed to think of gonig out somewhere fancy when they remember their choice of clothing, not to be depressed when unbidled brats nourished with suspiciously obtained budget or other money pay for expensive coctails, not thinking about how much they can pay, but how much they can drink. Rightfully concerned Mr. Pašovi? states: “So, a social tragedy in BiH is imminent even if youth stay.” One can agree with the director that the tragedy is immanent both ways, but it can also be concluded that the only chance BiH has is for youth to stay and for the social community to start honestly caring for their development and investing in this deifinitely profitable investment.
Why do 20% of Youth Wish to Stay in BiH?
So, two-thirds of youth wish to leave, a number of them, around 10% are indecisive, while there are 20% of those who are determined to stay. As the greatest reason for departure, youth list education and temporary employment. What the research does not include, and what would be interesting to learn, is the reason why a percentage of them wish to stay in the country. Do they wish to change something here or are they happy with the current situation? Or are they the “budget toddlers” who manage to satisfy their needs?
The web-portal Posao.ba recently published the results of its poll that state how most of the participants (78%) stated that they wish to stay in BiH. To be honest, the majority of the participants stated that they wish to work in their country, which does not exactly suggest that they do not with to leave, since they are aware that they will have a hard time finding a job. A group of participants, 444 of them, is not exactly a representative sample (they are probably those who log on to the portal). Amongst them are 42% of highly educated youth – selected clientele, so to say. the need to display a nicer image is comprenhensible, but the difficult situation does not deserve a nicer presentation since that would be a reward for those who caused it.
Brain Drain
As previously mentioned, the students who graduated from faculties in EU countries remain working abroad. According to data issued by UNESCO, 79% of scientists-engineers, 81% of MA graduates and 75% of PhD graduates have left BiH since 1995. According to World Bank data, in the drainage rate of highly educated population in Europe, the only country preceeding BiH is Croatia, which is understandable considering the emigration alleviations that the yonder population had. 28.6% of highly educated people from BiH work abroad. Usually, an acceptable immigration rate for a country is estimated to be between 5 and 10 percent, while all above this average is considered to be extemely harmful for a country.
The World is for the Old
It is a fact that the actual will of Government reflects through the budget, since the budget is a financial indicator of a developed plan. Sadly, so far the budget was only amiable to the old while youth were completely neglected. Lip service for youth, with no firm budget basis, is a clear-cut manipulation and nothing else. Alas, there are still those who believe manipuators over their own eyes.
Does anyone recall Bambino from the movie Most (The Bridge)? He was of value – until he left!
Author: Rusmir Pobri?
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