OSCE PRESENTS PACKAGE OF PROPOSALS TO CROATIAN GOVERNMENT

( Editorial: --> 0264 ) ZAGREB, June 10 (Hina) - The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) this week presented a package of proposals to the Croatian Government with the aim of speeding up the process of two-way refugee return, OSCE spokesman Mark Thompson said in Zagreb on Wednesday. Three proposals relate to the policy of OSCE's mission in Croatia and three to the activities of the Croatian Government, Thompson clarified at a regular press conference. "This week the mission presented the Government with a certain number of proposals" with the aim of unblocking the two-way return mechanism, said Thompson. These are not new ideas, he stressed, but clarifications for some of the earlier proposals. "The number of people who are occupying the houses of refugees and inhibiting the return of owners to those houses needs to be confirmed," said Thompson. The second proposal relates to those who occasionally, mainly on the weekends, visit their property but live in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. "We suggest that they lose that occupancy if they do not reside on that property for a period of at least 30 consecutive days," said Thompson. The third proposal relates to alternative accommodation for those who do not wish to return to their homes. According to Thompson, for Croatians from the Danube region who have returnee status but cannot return to their homes because they have not been reconstructed should have that status extended. "We ask the Government to extend their returnee status," stressed Thompson. He also asked the Croatian Government to earmark more resources for a special program intended for about 2,500 people of Serb nationality who wish to return to their homes outside the Croatian Danube River region. About 40 percent of those families need assistance for the reconstruction of their homes, he added. It would be good for the Government to make a special reconstruction programme for those people and the same kind for displaced persons who wish to return to their homes in the Danube region, given that with the departure of persons of Serb nationality their houses would be vacated, said Thompson. This programme would have a very special impact on the two-way return mechanism, said OSCE's spokesman. He announced that an OSCE troika at the ambassadorial level (Denmark, Poland and Norway) would be arriving on Sunday for a three-day visit to Croatia. They will visit the Croatian Danube River region, talk with Croatian officials and representatives of the diplomatic corps in Zagreb. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Andrej Mahecic said the UNHCR is "still waiting for the draft plan of return", which the Government promised to present at the latest by June 25. "The UNHCR can only accept a return plan which will be in line with the regional plan of return which was presented on Tuesday at the Peace Implementation Council (PIC) in Luxembourg," said Mahecic. The 20-page plan will be presented to the public soon, he said. At the moment, said Mahecic, there remain 1.8 million people on this territory in need of solutions. He stressed that for the UNHCR there exist four types of solutions - voluntary return, local integration, resettlement to other countries for special protection cases and accommodation in new homes. "Voluntary return to original homes is the preferred solution and the focus of the UNHCR return strategy," said the UNHCR spokesman. Mahecic reminded that officials in return regions should work efficaciously, while the international community needs to be firm and coherent in implementing political action and supporting those who demonstrate a clear will to implement the return process. (hina) bag/ha 101830 MET jun 98