ID Delays Leave Bosnian Sailors Stranded

Bosnian sailors and shipping crews have been hit by delays in procedures within the country's bodies for issuing identity documents.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs, the ministry responsible for issuing shipping and maritime ID booklets, has been unable to produce them while regulations and a contract for the booklets were still being coordinated.

IDDEEA, Bosnia's agency for identification documents, registers and data exchange, responsible for the production of the booklets, told BIRN that production of shipping and maritime booklets had been hit by snags.

In answer to a question about whether the booklets were finally being produced, a spokeswoman told BIRN in a statement: "Not yet, the purchase of seamen's books is in progress."

Regulations on the issue of these documents had hitherto not been coordinated, she said, adding that "this is [being] resolved.

"The regulations on the shipping and maritime booklets were published on February 24 in the Official Gazette and entered into force on March 4," she said.

Mostly landlocked Bosnia has far fewer seamen than maritime Croatia or Montenegro, but an estimated 1,000 seamen from Bosnia crew boats on the sea or inland.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs acknowledged to BIRN that there had been delays but said "activities to address the problems are in progress".

It is not clear how long the delays will last. Press reports have said that in the meantime some sailors have been unable to work.

The Banja Luka-based paper Nezavisne Novine reported that the Bosnian Serb entity's Ministry for Transport and Communications had said that during 2016 it had received 60 requests for such booklets, and in the first two months of this year it had received seven.

IDDEEA has been...