World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

Roma fall under the category of ‘Others' in the legal framework of Bosnia and Herzegovina and, as such, are discriminated against by law and cannot stand for certain public offices. According to the Advisory Committee's opinion on the Council of Europe's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, there are 30,000-50,000 Roma in Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to most reports, the Roma suffer the greatest discrimination among all ethnic groups. Lack of reliable data on ethnicity makes it difficult to design policies and programmes to address problems of minority and vulnerable groups.

Roma also face discrimination and exclusion from all spheres of societal life, including access to housing, education, employment, and health care. Poverty amongst the Roma is widespread. After the war, most Roma remain displaced and live in informal settlements in extremely impoverished conditions, in many cases without proper heating or even access to fresh water. Furthermore, many Roma cannot access services because they do not have the necessary papers; this is mainly due to the fact that many live in informal settlements and cannot register with the municipalities there. They are represented only in very few cases on the municipal level. At the state level there is an Advisory Board for Roma, which includes Roma, but is rarely consulted on important issues.

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