BOSNIA: DIASPORA ENGAGEMENT

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 001108 SENSITIVE SIPDIS S/GPI FOR MKWALKER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: BEXP BTIO EAID OEXC OIIP PGOV PHUM PREL BA SUBJECT: BOSNIA: DIASPORA ENGAGEMENT REF: STATE 86401 ¶1. (SBU) Post offers the following answers to questions from para 15 of reftel. The Post point of contact on diaspora issues will be Patrick Hanish. A) To what extent are diasporans from your host country an identifiable community? Are there existing diaspora networks, organizations or online communities available as platforms for outreach? Many citizens of BiH were employed in Europe as "foreign workers" prior to the collapse of Yugoslavia, and more than one million citizens left the country during the 1992-1995 war. However, citizens of Bosnia living abroad are most likely to identify with the ethnic group (Bosniak, Croat or Serb) from which they originate, as opposed to identifying themselves as current or former citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The diaspora may be further divided analytically between those who left Bosnia for a neighboring country where they have dual citizenship or family ties (Croatia, Serbia, and Montenegro),and those who travelled further afield as refugees (to the U.S., Europe, or Australia, for example). Those who reside in neighboring countries may have largely assimilated, and see their birth in Bosnia only as biographic fact, not a part of personal identity. Existing diaspora networks are largely keyed to ethnic identity. For example, Bosnian diaspora groups in the United States reach out to Croat, Serb, and Bosniak caucuses within the U.S. Congress based on ethnic lines. Community centers, churches and mosques, and web sites of the diaspora community largely mirror this ethnic division. B) What is the nature of the connection of the diaspora community to the host country? Examples include kinship networks; educational or other institutional ties; financial support as from remittances; and direct participation in community or country affairs and civil society. The BiH diaspora community, having departed Bosnia in many cases within the last 15-17 years, continues to maintain strong familial and community ties. Diaspora Bosnians frequently travel back to Bosnia on holidays, in particular visiting family and friends in their communities of origin. Most cities throughout the country report a diaspora influx during the summer months. BiH's central bank estimated remittances in 2008 at 1.88 billion USD (2.5 billion KM) or ten percent of GDP. In the first quarter of 2009, they estimated remittances totaled 388 million USD (517 million KM). The central bank forecasts a ten percent drop in remittances in 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis. An organization of the diaspora community, the World Diaspora Congress, has held some meetings in BiH to discuss such issues as dual citizenship and the Bosnian election law, but it is not clear how active or significant this group will be. Some universities have developed educational ties between Bosnia and the diaspora community. For example, the University of Sarajevo has a partnership funded by USAID with the University of Delaware's College of Business and Economics. The schools reached out to diaspora student councils as part of their recruitment plan. The American University in BiH, affiliated with SUNY/Canton, is also seeking to create successful cooperation with the diaspora community. While civil society in BiH is generally weak, citizens of Bosnia are able to vote if they register with the entral Election Commission as residents of Bosni, and may vote at consular offices overseas. Reistration, however, has been problematic, as thelaw is largely designed for Bosnians temporarily overseas, not those permanently resident abroad. Voting has significantly dropped off over the years. In early post-war elections, some 700,000 people voted overseas. In the most recent elections, only 20,000 overseas citizens voted. C) To what extent has your host country or government activated its diaspora communities for humanitarian relief? How would you characterize the level of response? If outreach is relatively recent, do you foresee opportunities to maintain diaspora community involvement in country over the long term? The vast bulk of the Bosnian diaspora community left as a result of humanitarian crises during the 1992-1995 war. Since that time, the government has worked with USAID and international organizations on reconstruction projects that encouraged refugees and internally displaced persons to return to their place of origin. In recent years USAID has ceased to be involved in these activities which have been largely taken over by such organizations as UNHCR and OSCE. These efforts involved reaching out for contributions from the diaspora community, and the level of contributions was significant. Religious leaders have told us they can rely to a degree on diaspora assistance for reconstruction, renovation, or ongoing operation of religious buildings, but such contributions are largely confined to provision of support for their specific communities of origin. D) To what extent is the diaspora community engaged in long-term investment in country, for example micro-enterprise development, job creation, entrepreneurship, and institutional capacity building? What is post's assessment of the future potential for long-term and sustained engagement of the diaspora community in such efforts? Members of the BiH diaspora are quite active in the commercial sphere, and this is one area where returnees can cross the ethnic divide. Bosnians across ethnic lines -- Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims),Bosnian Croats, and Bosnian Serbs -- who fled during the war have returned as successful business leaders representing European and American companies and working in all areas of BiH irrespective of their ethnicity. This experience directly contrasts with the situation of "local" Bosnians who often confront serious cultural and professional impediments when seeking employment outside of their traditional ethnic geographic areas (i.e. Bosniaks in the Republika Srpska or Serbs in the Federation). Bosnian Croat returnees enjoy particular success with running small and medium-sized businesses and managing representational offices. Although diaspora members are present in all economic spheres, they predominantly work in the IT, telecommunications and services sectors. Several chiefs of party for USAID projects are Bosnians who worked and went to university in the U.S. We expect diaspora engagement to continue in the commercial sector in the long-term given the advantage which international businesses attribute to hiring international professionals with Balkan origins to manage representational offices here. Investment has also been the subject of past diaspora gatherings such as the Fourth Congress of the BiH Diaspora World Confederation meeting in Sarajevo in 2008. A positive sign for Bosnia's future is the emergence of a new cadre of young, dynamic entrepreneurs who have overcome bureaucratic and other obstacles to build successful business ventures here. In many cases, this new impetus originates from Bosnian returnees, who as students fled in the 1990s and are returning as business executives and professionals with valuable experience. These young entrepreneurs and returnees share two common traits: optimism and an attitude that things can be accomplished here. E) To what extent is the diaspora community working toward scientific, engineering, medical and educational institution building? How might diasporans with backgrounds in these fields or otherwise affiliated with the Academy, or professional and technical societies, become engaged in science diplomacy programs? So far there has been little involvement of the diaspora community in scientific and educational institution building. The war created a "brain drain" and resulted in many Bosnians obtaining scientific and academic positions abroad. Few from the diaspora are returning with their expertise, although, some new institutions, such as the American University in Bosnia is seeking to develop deeper relations with the diaspora. Unfortunately, post has little information regarding diaspora contributions in the medical field. For the most part, medical professionals who have advanced medical degrees or were educated abroad have returned to BiH permanently and therefore are no longer considered part of the diaspora population. Members of the diaspora often have vague second-hand anecdotes such as past donations of used medical equipment. However, little additional information is known regarding the extent of diaspora involvement in these types of projects. F) To what extent is the diaspora community engaged in conflict resolution and peace building? Do you see future potential to translate diaspora community participation in these processes into other priorities governing the bilateral (and/or regional) relationship? The diaspora community is generally divided into groups that mirror the ethnic divisions in Bosnia, and their lobbying and other political efforts tend to reinforce divisions rather than promote reconciliation. To the extent that diaspora organizations can be built on a basis that transcends ethnic divisions they might potentially play a constructive role. G) To what extent is the diaspora community engaged in meeting the health, education and welfare needs of indigenous peoples? Not applicable. H) To what extent is the diaspora community engaged in democracy promotion, electoral reform and civil society development? Are there key milestones in your host country or host government's development that would create opportunities for such engagement in the future? The diaspora community is largely split along ethnic lines, and diaspora groups tend to promote the interests of their ethnic counterparts in Bosnia rather than working on overall democracy promotion. There are a small number of diaspora groups interested in overall democracy promotion. Bosnia's Euro-Atlantic integration process, particularly its drive toward European Union membership, potentially offers an opportunity for diaspora communities to point out to fellow Bosnians of all ethnic groups the demonstrated benefits that come with making the hard choices necessary for forward progress on Euro-Atlantic integration. I) How would you characterize the level of concern and attention given to diaspora communities by your host government? If applicable, please describe the host government's organization and strategy dedicated to relationship-building with its diaspora communities. For example, host governments may have established promotion offices to encourage diasporans' return, bringing with them know-how and financial resources. Return of refugees within the Bosnian diaspora is a matter of great importance to political leaders throughout the country. However, the desire to promote such return varies based often on the ethnicity of the politicians. Ambassadorships, apportioned with an eye to ethnic balance, can have a significant impact on the direction and level of outreach from a given Bosnian embassy overseas. Bosniak leaders, in particular, voice continual concern for the promotion and funding of returns. UNHCR continues to operate in Bosnia, and also promotes returns, including by pressing for full implementation of the portion of the Dayton Accords (Annex VII) which pertains. A recent attempt to adopt a new Annex VII implementation strategy was killed by parliamentarians from Republika Srpska (RS). In August, the state-level Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees (MinHRR) signed an MoU with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to fund a 2-year, 750,000-Euro study entitled "enhancing the developmental impact of diaspora contributions in Bosnia and Herzegovina." The goal of the project is to assist MinHRR in researching the level and nature of contributions, forming a task force related to diaspora issues, adoption of a state-level strategy on diaspora issues, and selection of specific intiatives to undertake to increase diaspora developmental impact. Bosnian Embassies maintain contacts with diaspora organizations. However, the fact that diaspora groups are organized along ethnic lines with generally conflicting agendas limits the possibilities for engaging with them constructively in an overall Bosnian national strategy. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Bosnian Government's stance is generally to keep in touch with these organizations but not to get directly involved in their activities. J) If post has undertaken programs to reach out proactively to diaspora community members, please share the circumstances that prompted the outreach effort, how outreach was conducted or programmed, personal impressions from the experience, and benefits from the outreach effort. The USG funded a small Get-Out-the-Vote project for the 2008 municipal elections, which reached out specifically to diaspora groups. The project sent updated GOTV material to the BiH diaspora associations, and this was placed on their websites. This project was focused mainly on outreach to those displaced from Srebrenica. The Embassy learned that most in the diaspora prefer to vote by mail rather than in person at consulates, or in person in country. K) If post has received unsolicited requests from the diaspora community, please share the nature of the requests, the considerations post took into account in formulating respective responses, and the outcomes of interaction. USAID has received a few unsolicited requests from the diaspora community, usually from groups requesting USG funds to support local sports groups or events. In all cases USAID has responded negatively due to a lack of funds and/or because the proposals did not fit into existing AID priorities. Other unsolicited requests from the diaspora community have come in the form of input from diaspora citizens weighing in on a wide variety of political developments. Such input may originate from religious communities in the United States, or from civil society associations. Post responds to such suggestions and requests with letters or other communication as appropriate. L) To what extent has post designed or participated in public diplomacy programs customized to diaspora community needs and interests? Does post anticipate taking advantage of such opportunities in the future? A group of Bosnian-American intellectuals are planning a visit to Sarajevo in October 2009 to include a concert with a guest composer from the U.S. Post plans to host a reception for the visitors and other appropriate guests. M) In planning future programs and anticipating requests for assistance from diaspora community actors, what types of knowledge management tools and information materials would be most helpful to action officers at post? If the Department were to develop a reach-back program to academics in the field of diaspora community engagement, what are post's preferences for accessing such a mechanism? In planning for future programs, Post would find most useful a website that would highlight constructive diaspora community activities, concerns, requests and initiatives as well as initiatives and suggestions by diaspora experts. ENGLISH