OFFICIAL: 5,829 PRE-WAR VUKOVAR RESIDENTS HAVE RETURNED SO FAR

VUKOVAR, Mar 13 (Hina) - A total of 25,145 persons returned to their homes in Vukovar-Srijem County by mid-March this year, which is 49.3 percent of the total number of those expelled from this eastern Croatian region in 1991. According to Ante Drmic, the head of the Vinkovci regional office for refugees, there has been a decrease in returns lately in comparison to previous periods. "The number of returns in Vukovar- Srijem County has decreased from one percent per month to below one percent, which means that less than 500 people are returning to their homes every month," Drmic said. Drmic said the main reason for the decrease in returns was a stalemate in reconstruction and the poor economic situation. For example, only 5,829 persons or a quarter of expelled persons have returned to Vukovar, which before the war was one of the more developed industrial towns in Croatia. If the current dynamics of return does not change and if a speedier reconstruction process is not secured and new jobs created, the return of Vukovar residents could last a number of years. On the other hand, returns to villages in the county are proceeding at a much speedier rate. More than 80 percent of pre-war residents have returned to villages in the so-called Srijem triangle or in the Nustar municipality. The income of most of those people has always depended on agriculture, which has now played the crucial role in their return. The information that some 11,000 hectares of arable land in the county were covered with mines was obviously less important for returnees than the wish to return and start working on their land. (hina) mm rml