by Roberta Gentili
Between May and June 2023 I conducted a 20-day pilot fieldwork period in Bihać, preparing for the intensive two-month fieldwork I will undertake in the fall of 2023.
I was already familiar with the area as I had been living in Bihać for 4 years, since 2019, collaborating with on-site organizations in the Una Sana Canton and participating in various activist initiatives in the Western Balkans.
With the increased border enforcement along the Serbian-Croatian border, Bosnia-Herzegovina has become a key country for people on the move seeking to reach the EU. The Balkan Route shifted in particular towards the Una Sana Canton, in the valley of the Una River, a few kilometres from the Croatian border in the spring of 2018 .
The main goal of the three weeks of the pilot project was to identify key actors, including individuals working within institutional camps, activists, volunteers, and migrants, as well as to outline the methodology of my research. I have therefore conducted interviews with individuals who have been involved in the migration situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina since 2019, and interviews with activists supporting migrants and refugees.
In the fall of 2023 I will undertake more extensive fieldwork. I will focus on interviews to outline a timeline of events, from 2019 until now, involving migrants and refugees in the Una Sana Canton.