About us
Kompas 071 is a non-governmental and non-profit organisation that provides assistance and support to those in need, with the main focus of our work directed towards people on the move (refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers).
Our work adheres to the principles of solidarity, antifascism, antiracism, freedom, and equality for all.
Most of our activities take place in a day centre in Sarajevo, which offers a variety of services to those in need of them. With the opening of the centre, Kompas began offering a safe space for people on the move, providing them with a place to bathe, wash their clothes, receive basic necessities (such as clothes, shoes, food, etc.), or simply spend the day.
While our work has primarily focused on Sarajevo as the main transit hub in Bosnia and Herzegovina, between 2021 and 2023, we also ran a day centre in the suburbs of Bihać, supporting people on the move who were living outside official transit centres in the streets or in abandoned houses, lacking basic living conditions.
To date, more than 20,000 people in need have visited our day centres in Sarajevo and Bihać. The majority of financial and material support for the organisation's work is raised through donations from individuals, groups, and organisations, with a smaller portion coming from projects.
We build alliances and friendships based on mutual trust and respect, guided by the principles and values of our work.
Since 2018, Bosnia and Herzegovina has become part of the so-called Balkan migration route. While migration from the Balkans began in the 1990s, this term is now associated with migration movements through Turkey and Greece/Bulgaria, followed by the countries of the former Yugoslavia, all the way to Italy and beyond. This route has become especially active since 2015. Although Bosnia and Herzegovina was initially not part of the route, from 2018 until today, hundreds of thousands of people on the move have passed through Bosnia and Herzegovina, risking their lives in an attempt to escape war, persecution, poor political and economic conditions, the effects of climate change, and more, seeking refuge and a better life in one of the EU countries.
Instead of a policy of respecting and protecting human rights, the European Union has chosen a policy of closed borders and shifting the responsibility for halting migration to countries outside the EU, including Bosnia and Herzegovina. This EU policy has placed Bosnia and Herzegovina in a troubling position, where people on the move find themselves trapped in a cycle of restricted movement, poor living conditions, instability, uncertainty, and violence along the north-western part of the state border with Croatia - sometimes for months, and even years.
Why Kompas 071
Refusing to silently witness the inhumane situation and living conditions that people on the move are facing in our country and city, as well as the systemic and continuous discrimination and violation of their basic human rights, we decided to register the organisation and open a day centre to provide a safe and supportive space, and attempt to recognize and respond to their needs.
Our Team
Ines Tanovic
President of the organisation
Kerim Hodžić
Associate
Mahir Hrnjić
Associate
Belma Kobaš
Volunteer