ZAGREB, Jan 31 (Hina) - On the last day of January, five tractors carrying their Croatian Serb owners crossed the border between Yugoslavia and Croatia, raising the number of returned tractors to 1,000, the UNHCR Mission in Zagreb
said in a statement on Wednesday. The Mission expressed satisfaction with the fact that its operation, which started in mid-1998 and was aimed at returning 1,000 tractors whose owners are Croatian Serbs, was successfully completed with the full cooperation of the Croatian Government Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees and highly professional Croatian customs officials. Apart from its wish to help returnees reintegrate, an additional reason for UNHCR to return the tractors was a wish to improve the difficult living conditions which are characterised by lack of employment, destroyed infrastructure and a general need for reconstruction, the statement read. According to the statemen
ZAGREB, Jan 31 (Hina) - On the last day of January, five tractors
carrying their Croatian Serb owners crossed the border between
Yugoslavia and Croatia, raising the number of returned tractors to
1,000, the UNHCR Mission in Zagreb said in a statement on
Wednesday.
The Mission expressed satisfaction with the fact that its
operation, which started in mid-1998 and was aimed at returning
1,000 tractors whose owners are Croatian Serbs, was successfully
completed with the full cooperation of the Croatian Government
Office for Displaced Persons and Refugees and highly professional
Croatian customs officials.
Apart from its wish to help returnees reintegrate, an additional
reason for UNHCR to return the tractors was a wish to improve the
difficult living conditions which are characterised by lack of
employment, destroyed infrastructure and a general need for
reconstruction, the statement read.
According to the statement, Croatia's Agriculture and Forestry
Minister Bozidar Pankretic assessed the UNHCR campaign as
positive, saying it "significantly increased the technical level
of equipment in farming households." He also stressed the social
and political importance of the operation.
The head of the UNHCR Mission to Croatia, Robert Robinson, said the
return of refugees alone was an important step in reviving
economically endangered areas, but the return of tractors was a
particularly important contribution to the reconstruction of the
farming sector.
(hina) rml