Bosnia

Stepping off the bus in Mostar, Bosnia, there was a clear difference between the previous stops along our journey in Croatia. From the masses of dilapidated buildings to the trash cluttering the city streets to the many gypsy beggars, it appears to me that the wounds from the Homeland War are not as well healed as in most of Croatia. In most cities we have visited in Croatia, the memories and pain of the war are still vivid, but much of the external damage has long been repaired, yet for some reason there is a sad, sobering feeling that comes over as you walk the streets of Mostar. While in the U.S. I am accustomed to the sight of beggars; seeing the gypsy mothers holding young children and begging for money was far more difficult to see in Mostar.

Visiting the University of Mostar, we learned a little bit more about the current political atmosphere in Bosnia and about the University itself. Bosnia is a very complicated country, being comprised of three main ethnic groups: Muslims, Serbians, and Croatians. Bosnia was home to some of the most brutal atrocities committed during the homeland war of the 1990’s. While all groups were involved, most of the acts were committed by the Bosnian Serbs to the Muslims. Even though the fighting has ceased for a number of years now, a very complicated political structure remains in Bosnia. The three main ethnic groups each alternate the presidency and it is very difficult to get anything accomplished with the current political system. While it does not seem to be very high on the list of priorities for such a war-torn nation, the political structure makes the health care system very complicated for the people of Bosnia. Health care is governed by the different cantons in Bosnia, or city-like structures with no real national health care plan. The lecture was not focused on health care in Bosnia, but it seems reasonable to assume that heath care governed at the city level leaves the Bosnian people with differing quality of and access to health care. Talking with some students at the University of Mostar, it seems that this structure only allows you to access health care services in your canton of residence. Thus if you were in another part of Bosnia and needed medical services, the health care plan would not pay for these services. I can only imagine that this system would leave the more urban cantons with better access and quality health care services than other rural cantons.

From the lecture, we learned that due to political disagreements there has not been a census in Bosnia since 1991, long before the end of the war. With no census data in nearly 20 years, it would be very difficult to have any accurate health statistics at a population level. If the political system is so dysfunctional that it cannot even agree on a census, I have little faith that good epidemiological work is going on at the government level in Bosnia.

In addition we learned from our lecture prior to arriving in Bosnia that human trafficking is a growing problem for Bosnia. In fact, in 1995, 25% of women working in night clubs were trafficked, and there are approximately 2,500 trafficked women working in brothels within Bosnia. These numbers are shocking because Bosnia is a relatively small country and because of the extremely cruel nature of trafficking. Many of the young women from poorer countries are tricked into this trade with promises of a better life, offers to be a nanny for a rich family and to learn trades to make a future for themselves. In reality they are often smuggled across country lines and forced to work in the sex trade, factories, and generally treated as less than human. A country such as Bosnia, ripe with political struggles, is a likely place for trafficking to occur. With no truly effective government to provide true oversight, corruption can run rampant and often times police play key roles in allowing trafficking to occur. For example the police may be paid to keep quite or paid to alert offenders of raids, or may even be night club owners and directly involved with trafficking of women.

While I have only seen one city in Bosnia, my first impression of this country based on our visit to Mostar is mixed. Bosnia seems to have a great deal of work ahead if they are to truly recover from the Homeland war and to perhaps one day reach their goal of getting into the European Union. With such a defunct government, the people of Bosnia are left with little in the way of leadership and are struggling because of this. While some problems obviously exist because of the political problems, we don’t even know the full extent of the public health situation in Bosnia and thus little can be done to improve it. Yet with all the sadness, I also witnessed great enthusiasm and hope from several young people from the University of Mostar. I can see that this younger generation has grown tired to the status quo and is ready to bring about change and produce a brighter future for the people of Bosnia. While it seems recovery has been slow, I remind myself that Bosnia is less than 10 years removed from a brutal war that many in the U.S. can likely not even imagine and full recovery may take many years Hopefully the Obama administration will make a substantial effort to help the people of Bosnia finally recover and lead the lives they truly deserve.
-Ben