EXILE NOT OVER EVEN AFTER NINE YEARS

ZAGREB, Nov 7 (Hina) - Six families from Vukovar who have nowhere to return even after nine years in exile and tired of moving and bad living conditions, have refused to leave the "Smidhen" hotel in Samobor near Zagreb. Accommodation offered to them instead of the hotel which is to be reconstructed and restored for tourists, is unacceptable to them as it does not fulfil even the minimal conditions for a dignified life. As of October 9 they have been left without electric power in the hotel, they have no hot water nor heating. Commenting on the claims by the displaced persons that the offered accommodation did not offer good living conditions, spokeswoman for the Office for refugees and displaced persons of the Ministry for Public Works and Reconstruction, Anamarija Radic, said conditions were better in some offered accommodation facilities, in some worse, but other displaced persons were living there. She added that the refugees had been offered the possibility of being accommodated in any refugee home and places in Zagreb where other displaced persons lived, or close to their pre-war home towns. Asked why the electricity had been turned off, Radic said this was an issue of the hotel, because the Ministry's office had settled all debts until August. She added that out of the six families currently accommodated in Smidhen, five were waiting for flats, and one for their house to be reconstructed. The six families have a total of 19 members. (hina) lml jn