REFUGEES LOSE PATIENCE AND WANT TO RETURN HOME

OSIJEK, June 24 (Hina) - Refugees from the occupied eastern Slavonia, Baranja and western Srijem showed great patience and do not want the UNTAES mandate to be extended. All of them want to return to their homes from which they have been exiled, president of the Association of Refugees from the Osijek County, Tomo Povreslo, said in Osijek on Monday at a meeting with mayors and Parliament representatives from two eastern Croatian counties which are still partially under Serb occupation, as well as with representatives of the government Office of the Temporary Administration for the Establishment of Croatian Authority in the Occupied Area. The refugees "want a safe return and peaceful reintegration," Povreslo said. However, they were against a partial return within the framework of the pilot programme, Povreslo said on behalf of refugees from the only remaining occupied area in Croatia. "They exiled us from our homes in one day and we want to return," he said. Representatives of refugees criticized the fact that Serbs were preventing them from visiting their homes and villages, or were setting conditions for the visits. A refugee from Baranja, Josip Kompanovic, asked "how long will the Croatian side make concessions to Serbs." Other refugees also expressed their dissatisfaction with the fact that not one refugee had returned to the area after five years of exile, so they asked the government Office of the Temporary Administration to induce pressure on UNTAES to speed up the process of return and the search for missing and detained persons. (hina) lm jn 241605 MET jun 96