ZAGREB, Nov 2 (Hina) - Over the next two months, representatives of 19 Croatian municipalities from which ethnic Serbs have fled during the 1990s war will visit centres accommodating Croatian refugees in Yugoslavia and Bosnia to
inform them in detail about applications for the reconstruction of houses which have to be filed by year's end. The president of Croatia's Serb People's Council (SNV), Milorad Pupovac, said so in Zagreb on Friday at a meeting which gathered representatives of the Croatian defence and reconstruction ministries and the missions of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and the US Agency for International Development. The municipal officials will explain to refugees "what their possibilities and rights are regarding reconstruction and assure them that prerequisites for the realisation of their rights exist," Pupovac told reporters after the meeting. The head of the governm
ZAGREB, Nov 2 (Hina) - Over the next two months, representatives of
19 Croatian municipalities from which ethnic Serbs have fled during
the 1990s war will visit centres accommodating Croatian refugees in
Yugoslavia and Bosnia to inform them in detail about applications
for the reconstruction of houses which have to be filed by year's
end.
The president of Croatia's Serb People's Council (SNV), Milorad
Pupovac, said so in Zagreb on Friday at a meeting which gathered
representatives of the Croatian defence and reconstruction
ministries and the missions of the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees and the US Agency for International Development.
The municipal officials will explain to refugees "what their
possibilities and rights are regarding reconstruction and assure
them that prerequisites for the realisation of their rights exist,"
Pupovac told reporters after the meeting.
The head of the government's office for refugee returns, Lovre
Pejkovic, reminded the deadline for the submission of
reconstruction requests had been extended several times but that
the Dec. 31, 2001 one was final.
He said the government expected the municipal representatives to
inform the Croatian refugees in the Bosnian Serb entity and
Yugoslavia about everything they need to know to be able "to freely
decide" whether they wish to return to Croatia or locally integrate
"where they are currently staying."
Robert Robinson, the head of the UNHCR Mission to Croatia, which
sponsors a media campaign aimed at informing those interested about
methods and deadlines for the submission of applications for the
reconstruction of houses, said the Yugoslav government had
notified the UNHCR that around 60 percent of Croatian refugees
intended to stay in Yugoslavia.
Another 35 percent are undecided and the purpose of today's meeting
was to establish if they really cannot make up their minds and, if
that is case, why, which municipal representatives have to find out
through direct contact, said Robinson.
He said the Croatian government had offered something the UNHCR
viewed as a genuinely generous assistance in reconstruction. He
added, however, both must be aware of the scope of the problem
awaiting them, namely the number of returnees, so as to know how
much money will be necessary.
(hina) ha sb