According to reports on December 15, authorities in Bosnia-Herzegovina have expelled from the country an Algerian national whom they claim was a threat to national security.
Atau Mimun, 37, was, according to the Banja Luka daily Nezavisne novine, believed to involved in racketeering in Sarajevo and central Bosnia, although he was never tried for the alleged crimes.
“We estimated that that person was dangerous for the national security,” Dragan Mektic, head of the government department responsible for foreigners in Bosnia, told the daily. Algerian-born Mimun was granted Bosnian citizenship in 1994 after marrying a local woman. He was one of many people who were given citizenship during the country’s 1992- 1995 war. Earlier this year, Bosnia’s government formed a special commission to investigate the circumstances under which the citizenships were granted, mostly to people from eastern Islamic countries, who had come to Bosnia to help Bosnian Muslims fight Bosnian Serbs and Croats. The commission has so far decided to revoke citizenship from 613 people, suggesting deportation to their home countries.
Most were of Turkish origin, but also included are citizens of Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia and Russia. The newcomers mostly decided to stay in Bosnia after the war, where they later married local women and started families. The commission is to continue with its work until February next year, when its mandate ends.