Youth who are leaving Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro will return to their country only if they are given a chance to find employment and build their careers. These are the results of an online survey conducted by the Institute for Youth Development KULT, from July to August 2017.
The survey had 720 respondents from BiH, Serbia, Montenegro and Croatia, aged 15-35 who have already left their country in the past three years, or have started the process of moving and are expecting to leave in the near future. The majority of the responses came from youth in the 21-30 age group, mostly from urban areas.
According to the results of this survey, the majority of youth moved to Germany, followed by Austria, Sweden, Slovenia, United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Spain, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic…
Over 50% of youth leave independently, more that 30% are helped by relatives and friends, and less than 10% use employment mediation agencies.
Around 80% of young people stated that they left because they don’t believe the situation in the country will improve in the near future, i.e. they don’t see a better future for themselves. Other reasons include their dissatisfaction with the political situation, corruption, unemployment, disproportionate prominence of national, religious and war issues, and unsatisfactory jobs and salaries.
From the countries that receive them, they expect better education and healthcare systems, better quality of life, more opportunities for employment and a safer environment.
More than 30% of respondents are not planning to return to their country, and other will return if they are given an opportunity to have a better life in their country.
60% said that their entire family is leaving, more than 20% said their families are preparing to leave, and around 10% said their families are not leaving.
Analysis of the results will be available on our website www.mladi.org from mid-September.
More information:
– Emigration in BiH is the most notable by citizens with deficit professions such as computer scientists, engineers and construction engineers, doctors and other medical personnel and highly qualified workers.
– Total number of persons originating from BiH and living abroad is at least 2 million, which makes it 53% of the total of 3,791,622 people living in BiH.
– Numerous doctors, specialists, pharmacies, nurses, technicians and caregivers emigrate abroad. As of now, BiH has 200 doctors per 100.000 inhabitants, which is less than the EU average of 362 doctors.
– Bosnia and Herzegovina was ranked 131st out of 133 countries in the category of “brain drain”. (2010 World Economic Forum)
– Since 1995, 79% of researchers in the field of engineering, 81% of MSc and 75% of doctors of science left Bosnia and Herzegovina. (UNESCO)
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