SARAJEVO, 20.05.2018. – Members of the BH Journalists Association call the media to report on the migrants and refugees Članovi Udruženja/udruge BH novinari call on media from all over Bosnia and Herzegovina to report on migrants and refugees from Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and other Middle East countries, who are coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina more and more with professionalism, responsibility and journalistic ethics.
Sensationalism in media reports, hesitation, xenophobia, discrimination and demolition of human dignity and rights, especially children, represent serious violations of the value of journalistic profession. That is why we appeal to editors and journalists that they are truthful, credible and respectful of the personal integrity of all migrants and refugees, writing about their needs, the difficulties they face or the demands of BiH state organs.
We also invite reporters and editors to be more objective and critical when questioning officials in BiH, who, with their public statements, do not contribute to solving the problems of hundreds of foreigners, including a significant number of women and children, but who are unfounded to criminalize them and used for daily policy purposes. The media and journalists must have a professional distance to such statements and politicians, and put them in the context of the BiH’s legal obligations and the provisions of international humanitarian law.
Members of the BHJA Assembly, gathered at a session in Sarajevo