by Verica Sikora DARDA, March 19 (Hina) - Seven displaced women on Tuesday visited their homes in Baranja (eastern Croatia) which has been under Serb occupation for five years. The visit was organized by the United Nations
Transitional Administration (UNTAES) in charge of civillian issues and the Croatian government Office for the Temporary Administration for the establishment of Croatian authority in eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem.
by Verica Sikora
DARDA, March 19 (Hina) - Seven displaced women on Tuesday visited
their homes in Baranja (eastern Croatia) which has been under Serb
occupation for five years. The visit was organized by the United
Nations Transitional Administration (UNTAES) in charge of civillian
issues and the Croatian government Office for the Temporary
Administration for the establishment of Croatian authority in
eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem. #L#
Accompanied by the UNTAES civilian police and Serb police
from Baranja, the displaced persons visited the villages of Bilje,
Mece, Darda and Ceminac and saw their homes. As far as could be
seen, the houses were not damaged.
The streets were mostly empty of people. The church in Bilje
was apparently intact, but we found out that it had been ravaged
inside.
In Ceminac, one of the women, Marija, saw her sister for a
brief moment, while she saw her mother only from afar. Still, she
said, "I am happy I am in Baranja, I feel as if I had never left".
About 2,500 people lived in Ceminac before it was occupied, of
which only some 50 people were Serbs. Today, the situation is
completely different. Serbs have moved into houses of Croatians and
Hungarians in Ceminac as they have elsewhere in the occupied areas.
The Jesus's Heart Church, once the Baranja Cathedral, now only
has bare walls.
"The residents of occupied Baranja realise what the process of
reintegration means and want it to be carried out peacefully.
People are tired of privation and worry," an interpretor working
with UNTAES, Biljana, said. Biljana is from the occupied Beli
Manastir.
"Fear is present," she added. When asked what people feared,
she answered that the fear was connected with their jobs, living
conditions and the future.
Biljana said that people in Baranja followed Croatian media
reports, and "we realise that some things are unavoidable".
The first visit to Baranja passed without an incident. People
waved, greeting us on the way, at times shyly, sometimes openly.
Only a few gesticulated in show of different attitudes.
The Serb police accompanied us to a UNTAES checkpoint.
At the end of our visit, the head of the UNTAES in charge of
civillian issues in Beli manastir, Phillip Corwin, expressed his
satisfaction with the visit, stressing that "the Croatian and Serb
sides have shown their good will regarding the visit and General
Klein showed his will to carry it out".
"We are sure we will return home," said the women at the end
of the three-hour visit to their homes which they had been waiting
for for five years.
(hina) lm jn
191902 MET mar 96