FIRST RETURNEES FROM YUGOSLAVIA COMING THURSDAY - SAYS UNHCR

( Editorial: --> 0542 ) ZAGREB, July 29 (Hina) - The first group of persons returning to Croatia according to the latest Croatian government return programme should return from Yugoslavia this Thursday, a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Wednesday. The first group of 45 returnees will be welcomed by the chief of the UNHCR mission in Croatia Robert Robinson in Sisak, a town 50km south-east of Zagreb, UNHCR's Oliver Lacey-Hall told reporters in Zagreb. The Croatian government's Office for Refugees and Displaced Persons began with the registration of returnees regardless of how they are returning, said Lacey-Hall, adding the UNHCR welcomed this decision. He also recalled that the UNHCR and other international organisations wished for all returnees to be granted returnee status. Returnees who get returnee status have the right to humanitarian aid from the Croatian Red Cross in the first six months, Lacey-Hall said. He explained this aid amounted to US$23 a month if they have another means of income, or US$39 a month in the contrary. The returnee status also enables them to receive basic health care, he said. (hina) ha jn 291456 MET jul 98