The passports were presented in Cepin near Osijek, eastern Croatia, by Bosnian Ambassador Aleksandar Dragicevic. Also present was the UNHCR representative in Croatia, Jean Claude Concolato, who said this gesture was another important step towards putting an end to displacement in the region in a dignified manner.
According to Croatian government figures, there were 2,379 refugees with temporary protection registered in Croatia at the end of last month, of which 2,043 from Bosnia and 336 from Serbia.
The UNHCR estimates that 9,836 persons have returned from Croatia to Bosnia since January 1998, and assumes that the majority of refugees who could return did so and that by the end of this year the majority will find a permanent solution -- either to return to Bosnia or locally integrate in Croatia.
The UNHCR said that after 15 years in exile, solutions must be found for another 1,000 Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) refugees who have not been able to locally integrate in Croatia. Some cannot return for humanitarian reasons, while a limited number does not want to return out of fear for their safety or due to war trauma, said the UNHCR.
The UNHCR will continue to help in finding a solution for all refugees, regardless of their nationality, including the possibility that they acquire legal status or locally integrate, and hopes that those who do not want to or cannot return will soon be provided with housing.
The Croatian government has envisaged the option of local integration for Bosniak refugees as one of the solutions to ending displacement in the region, in line with the January 2005 Sarajevo Declaration, the UNHCR said.