21.09.2024. / 16:19
BIJELJINA – More and more foreign workers are coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina from various countries of the world, mostly African, to do jobs that are crying out for labor.
PHOTO: Pixabay
The “Lara” Foundation from Bijeljina conducted research on foreign workers in Semberije, and project coordinator Ljiljana Lukić presented the details.
For the show Novi dan on N1, he points out that the research covered 2023 and part of 2024.
“We are specific in terms of geographic area because we are right on the border and we have a lot of foreign workers who come from Serbia, but in recent years there has been a need for more and more workers in the construction and catering sector, so workers from Turkey, Nepal, India are also coming , Bangladesh, Tanzania and other African countries. The data we collected during the research show that 247 work permits were issued for foreign workers in the area of the City of Bijeljina. Most of them are in the construction sector. They are mostly between the ages of 18 and 50 and there are many more men – 209 men and 38 women,” said Lukić for N1.
He points out that, when they have a work permit, the same laws apply to them as for domestic workers and that they have the same rights.
“With the research, we included not only relevant institutions, but also domestic employers who employ foreign workers. It was a company that deals in construction and owns gas stations. They talked about why there is a need for foreign workers. They were faced with a situation where office workers refused to do this. This analysis, apart from the situation on the ground, also included an analysis of the media and how the local media wrote about foreign workers. Mostly they didn’t,” said Lukic.
When asked how the local population treats them and whether there is xenophobia, as is the case, for example, in Croatia, Lukić says that the population differentiates between migrants and foreign workers, but that the media could contribute to improving the image of them.
“Citizens do not look favorably on the appearance of migrant groups moving through the city, there have been fewer of them lately. They did not encounter benevolent views. But they are in transition and stay for a short time. When we talk about foreign workers who have a permit and live here, it is crucial to raise awareness and to talk about these new fellow citizens of ours, their life stories in order to create a more positive image in the public and to avoid xenophobia, and to accept them as our current fellow citizens. During our round table, we also heard positive stories, and one of them was told by a lady whose son works in a restaurant with an Indian, they get along well. If that story had been published in the media, it would have received positive reactions,” said Lukić. N1
Source: www.capital.ba
