UN: CROATIA MADE PROGRESS IN REFUGEE RETURNS, BUT IT IS INSUFFICIENT

ZAGREB, April 11 (Hina) - The UNHCR admits that the process of refugee return is complex as well as that Croatia has made progress in that field, however, it is not quite satisfied with the fact that the process is still much slower than expected, the U.N.'s Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Mary Ann Wyrsch, and the UNHCR's regional director for Europe, Raymond Hall, said on Friday. #L# Last year 11,000 refugees returned to Croatia, while this year 1,500 people have returned so far. Even though these figures are significant, they are not especially great given the total number of Croatian Serb refugees, Hall said at a press conference in Zagreb. He added that not all refugees were expected to return, however, those wishing to do so should be enabled to claim back their property, Hall said. To date, the government has received 3,800 applications for property repossession, Hall said. Even though the government obliged itself to complete the process of property restitution by the end of 2002, that unfortunately was not possible, probably due to justifiable reasons, he said. Hall said that during talks with Croatian officials in Zagreb the UNHCR delegation had been given assurances that this would be done by the end of 2002. The UNHCR delegation, headed by Mary Ann Wyrsch, spent three days in Croatia. During their stay, the delegation met Croatian President Stjepan Mesic and other state officials and visited refugee and returnee families in Sisak and Vojnic. Wyrsch said she was satisfied with the progress achieved in drafting a bill on asylum-seekers which the UNCHR worked on together with the government and which should be discussed in parliament in May. This was Wyrsch's first visit to Croatia since she took office on April 1, 2001. Wyrsch's visit to Zagreb rounded off a week-long tour of the Southeast European region. (hina) sp rml sb