In an interview with Belgrade's Danas daily of Saturday, he was quoted as saying that although much was done in the reconstruction of Croatian Serb houses damaged in the 1990s war, those wishing to return to Croatia still faced numerous problems, primarily in connection with the restitution of tenancy rights and property given to others for temporary use, the claiming of damages for property damaged in areas which were not affected by the war, and Serbs' participation in local government.
Ladjevic said the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe Mission to Croatia assessed that refugees and returnees continued to have difficulty in exercising their elementary rights and were discriminated against in employment, welfare and the allocation of reconstruction funds. He said 3,600 houses were still not returned to legal owners, and that more than 60,000 refugees were not given the chance to purchase flats built during Socialist Yugoslavia.
Ladjevic said a particular problem were the arrests of returnees suspected or accused of war or other crimes, which he added spread fear and directly obstructed the return process. He said 18 returnees were arrested this year.
Ladjevic said that according to Serbian figures, there are 186,250 Croatian refugees in Serbia and about 57,800 and not more than 120,000, as claimed by Croatian authorities, have returned to Croatia. Serbia's Croat population in 1991 numbered 105,406, while in 2002 the figure fell to 70,602.