SERB NATIONAL COUNCIL WANTS EQUAL RIGHTS FOR SERB, CROAT REFUGEES

ZAGREB, July 10 (Hina) - President of the Serb National Council (SNV), Milorad Pupovac, on Wednesday demanded equal rights for refugee Serbs from Croatia as those enjoyed by other refugees in the region of the former Yugoslavia, or rather, returnees to Bosnia- Herzegovina and Kosovo. #L# Pupovac will make this demand to the presidents of Croatia, Bosnia and Yugoslavia at a forthcoming meeting in Sarajevo on July 15. He claimed that the equal rights could influence the return of 48,000 to 80,000 Serb waiting to return or who have expressed their desire to return. Pupovac expressed his concern that little attention was being paid to the issue of minority returns. This is evident in the amendments to the Law on Areas of Special State Concern which will continue to protect the rights of users of property without guaranteeing that the assets will be returned to their rightful owners. He considered a bill to abolish housing commissions as a bad idea because these commissions were finally becoming active - for example in Plasko and Vrhovine particularly when one takes into concern the fact that about 450 houses are being returned each month in Bosnia, while in Croatia the annual figure is not this high. Noting that returnees to Bosnia with tenancy rights are being permitted to purchase their apartments regardless of what circumstances they left them under, Pupovac said he would demand that the same be applied in Croatia because it has been shown that many Serbs left their apartments under direct threats to their lives. A similar situation exists with jobs and the privatisation process in companies where returnees once worked. He also warned about the inconsistencies in the law on confiscated property during the Yugoslav Communist Rule where for instance the Matrix Croatica can request the return of its property whereas the Serb cultural society cannot. (hina) sp ms