SARAJEVO, June 23 (Hina) - One million and 250 thousand people from Bosnia-Herzegovina are still refugees or displaced people, although three and a half years have passed since the Dayton Accords. The biggest hurdle in solving this
problem is impossibility of return (of non-Serbs) into the Bosnian Serb entity, said Damir Ljubic, the Bosnian Presidency's chairman Ante Jelavic's advisor on refugees. Ljubic told a news conference in Sarajevo on Wednesday that at least a half of refugees and displaced people (600,000) had lived in the Republic of Srpska before the war. No return on a larger-scale to this part of Bosnia has been enabled so far, he added. About a half million of currently homeless people had lived in Moslem-populated areas of the Bosnian Federation prior to the war, whereas some 100,000 people fled Croat-populated areas in Bosnia during the war, Ljubic said. He added
SARAJEVO, June 23 (Hina) - One million and 250 thousand people from
Bosnia-Herzegovina are still refugees or displaced people,
although three and a half years have passed since the Dayton
Accords. The biggest hurdle in solving this problem is
impossibility of return (of non-Serbs) into the Bosnian Serb
entity, said Damir Ljubic, the Bosnian Presidency's chairman Ante
Jelavic's advisor on refugees.
Ljubic told a news conference in Sarajevo on Wednesday that at least
a half of refugees and displaced people (600,000) had lived in the
Republic of Srpska before the war. No return on a larger-scale to
this part of Bosnia has been enabled so far, he added.
About a half million of currently homeless people had lived in
Moslem-populated areas of the Bosnian Federation prior to the war,
whereas some 100,000 people fled Croat-populated areas in Bosnia
during the war, Ljubic said.
He added that these figures had been often disguised whereas
incorrect data were published.
According to Jelavic's advisor, the Bosnian Croat people is
currently in the most unfavourable position, and its number has
been cut to 500,000 in the country.
Furthermore, the ethnic picture of Bosnia is being drastically
changed, Ljubic warned.
"We cannot tolerate any new pretexts for making it impossible for
the non-Serb population to come back to the Republic of Srpska," he
stressed.
He believes that this year must be a milestone in progress in the
return into the Bosnian Serb entity. In case it fails to happen, the
Croat side will know which stand to take, Ljubic added.
Ljubic recalled that Bosniaks (Moslems) and Serbs were
continuously returning into areas with a Croatian majority ,
without serious incidents.
In three Croat municipalities of Mostar, 4,500 Bosniaks (Moslems)
who possess their private property there have returned, and 32
socially-owned flats were given back to refugees recently.
Jelavic's advisor accused the Bosniak (Moslem) side of trying to
distort the picture of the real situation in Mostar.
He added that the return of non-Moslems in Sarajevo was going on
with much difficulty and that local authorities did not make
information available to everyone.
According to him, about 7,000 Croats have left the Bosnian capital
since the signing of the Dayton deal.
(hina) ms