2 221 DISPLACED PERSONS RETURN TO SARAJEVO

( Editorial: --> 5153 ) SARAJEVO, May 20 (Hina) - By mid-May, 2,221 displaced persons returned to their homes in Sarajevo, and 19,215 pre-war residents of the city have applied to return, Sarajevo Canton Minister for Displaced Persons and Refugees, Beriz Belkic, told Tuesday's news conference in Sarajevo. He expressed satisfaction about the number of applications for return, but not with the number of returnees to Sarajevo. The Sarajevo Canton government will request of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that all 600 flats the UNHCR had planned to reconstruct, be handed over to the possession of members of minorities in the canton, the Bosnian Croat news agency Habena said. The government holds that the UNHCR should get more involved in the reconstruction of buildings whose owners are currently inhabiting flats of people who have applied to return to the city, Belkic said. (hina) lm 201026 MET may 98