SARAJEVO, Dec 28 (Hina) - Slightly more than 75,000 refugees and displaced people returned to their pre-war homes in Bosnia-Herzegovina during 2001, the figure being similar to those in previous years. Bosnia's Minister for Refugees
and Human Rights, Kresimir Zubak, believes, however, a significant improvement has been achieved in an exceptionally important area. "More than 64,000 of all returns are minority returns," Zubak said in Sarajevo on Friday, presenting the latest indicators on the still burning problem of refugee return. Minority returns in the first post-war years were almost an insoluble problem mostly because of political obstacles which were aimed at cementing the country's forcibly changed ethnic composition. More than 2,200,000 people had to leave their homes during the war in Bosnia. According to information from the Ministry for Refugees and Human Rights, 602,000 Bosnian nationals are still living outside the
SARAJEVO, Dec 28 (Hina) - Slightly more than 75,000 refugees and
displaced people returned to their pre-war homes in Bosnia-
Herzegovina during 2001, the figure being similar to those in
previous years.
Bosnia's Minister for Refugees and Human Rights, Kresimir Zubak,
believes, however, a significant improvement has been achieved in
an exceptionally important area.
"More than 64,000 of all returns are minority returns," Zubak said
in Sarajevo on Friday, presenting the latest indicators on the
still burning problem of refugee return.
Minority returns in the first post-war years were almost an
insoluble problem mostly because of political obstacles which were
aimed at cementing the country's forcibly changed ethnic
composition.
More than 2,200,000 people had to leave their homes during the war
in Bosnia.
According to information from the Ministry for Refugees and Human
Rights, 602,000 Bosnian nationals are still living outside the
country, in more than 40 countries. It is believed 391,000 have
decided to stay in those countries for good after having regulated
their residence.
Around 211,000 refugees from Bosnia still do not have a regulated
status and it is possible some of them will return to the country.
Since the signing of the Dayton peace agreement, slightly less than
800,000 people, of whom 412,000 had the status of displaced
persons, have returned to their homes.
A large number of those returnees, 619,000, are from the Federation
of Bosnia-Herzegovina, while slightly less than 170,000 refugees
returned to the Bosnian Serb entity.
Zubak said this imbalance had started to level out during 2001 with
the number of returns to the Serb entity starting to rise as against
previous years.
This, however, still does not refer to Croat refugees.
According to information provided by Banja Luka bishop Franjo
Komarica, only 1,700 of 70,000 Croat refugees have returned to
Republika Srpska so far.
Zubak does not dispute that this is, to a great extent, a political
issue, but hopes that intensified returns in the northern Posavina
region will trigger off the same processes in other parts of the
Serb entity as well.
Zubak believes the fact that some central Bosnian municipalities
such as Kiseljak, Busovaca, Vitez, Fojnica or Bugojno have solved
almost all property restitution claims is a particularly important
achievement. Special financial incentives will be granted next
year to those municipalities as a reward, he said.
(hina) rml