22,524 REFUGEES WAITING TO RETURN HOME

ZAGREB, Oct 9 (Hina) - A total of 22,524 people with refugee status in Croatia are residing outside of their homes, and most of them, 16,788, are from the Croatian Danube River region and 5,736 from other areas in which home reconstruction is underway, assistant public works, construction and reconstruction minister Lovre Pejkovic, told reporters on Tuesday. Since 1995, 283,902 refugees have returned to their homes, 198,294 of them being former displaced persons, Croats who had lived in areas of Croatia not struck by the war. So far 75,491 former displaced persons have returned to the Danubian area, and 122,803 to other areas of Croatia, as well as 85,608 Croatians of Serb nationality. There are still 20,449 refugees in Croatia, 19,000 from Bosnia- Herzegovina and 1,500 from Yugoslavia (1,300 from Kosovo). There are still 13,164 Croatian citizens of Serb nationality who have not yet returned to Croatia, although they had applied for return, and they are currently residing in Yugoslavia and Bosnia- Herzegovina, Pejkovic said. He added 8,000 of them were had been granted to return for over a year now. (hina) lml sb