UNHCR OFFICE IN BELGRADE: RETURN PLAN RESULTS ARE DISCOURAGING

( Editorial: --> 6503 ) BELGRADE, July 8 (Hina) - A refugee return plan recently adopted by the Croatian Government is not being applied in full and results so far have been discouraging, the coordinator for refugee problems at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) office in Belgrade Eduardo Arboleda said on Wednesday. The Croatian Embassy in Belgrade notified the UNHCR that every Croatian refugee has to submit a return request in person, Arboleda told reporters, pointing out this was a considerable obstacle for many refugees and was not contained in the return plan. Arboleda assessed that the Croatian Embassy in Belgrade, which is in charge of recording refugees who wish to return, was incapable of successfully processing the high number of individual return requests. Even though the UNHCR registered more than 15,000 such requests, it was unable to effect them due to the procedure demanded by the Croatian Embassy, Arboleda said. The UNHCR office in Belgrade has received dozens of complaints about the slow processing of return requests at the Croatian Embassy, while many refugees are refusing to return to the Embassy and seek UNHCR assistance, Arboleda said. He told reporters the UNHCR would not assist unless the Croatian Embassy stopped refusing assistance. Arboleda demanded that Croatia be more precise in the return plan and enable UNHCR participation in the procedure. He said that to date the UNHCR enjoyed good cooperation with the Croatian Office for Displaced and Exiled Persons. The UNHCR assisted in returning 13,000 persons to Croatia. According to Croatia's Ambassador to Yugoslavia Zvonimir Markovic, the Croatian consulate received 30,000 requests submitted by Serbs to return to Croatia and that half had been cleared. Markovic said the consulate was receiving up to 200 parties per day. It is incorrect that the Croatian Embassy is stalling the issuing of return documents, he emphasised. "Out of 337,000 refugees we must single out 79,791 whom the international community doesn't recognise the refugee status," Markovic said. "These are officers, officials and customs employees. There is a human drama behind each of these figures which should not be the subject of political manipulation." (hina) ha jn /mbr 082029 MET jul 98