WASHINGTON, May 14 (Hina) - The Croatian government has failed to take significant steps to facilitate the return of Serb refugees despite pledges by the new prime minister and calls by the European Union as part of accession talks,
the US human rights organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Friday.
WASHINGTON, May 14 (Hina) - The Croatian government has failed to take
significant steps to facilitate the return of Serb refugees despite
pledges by the new prime minister and calls by the European Union as
part of accession talks, the US human rights organisation Human Rights
Watch (HRW) said on Friday.#L#
In a briefing paper assessing progress on the return of Serb refugees
since September 2003, HRW said that Croatian authorities have made
little progress towards the repossession of Serb-owned properties, but
that virtually no progress had been made in providing alternative
housing for Serbs who lost the right to use state-owned (so-called
"socially-owned") apartments.
The New York-based organisation further said that "flawed domestic war
crimes trials marked by ethnic bias against Serbs also dissuade
refugees from returning."
"The new prime minister, Ivo Sanader, has made repeated calls for Serb
refugees from Croatia to return to the country and pledged to make
improvements for the Serb minority in various sectors of political and
social life," the report said.
"The Croatian government must take stronger measures to facilitate the
return of Serb refugees," said Rachel Denber, acting executive
director of the HRW Europe and Central Asia Division. "The new
government's statements are welcome, but they must be matched by
action," she added.
"In positive contrast to slow progress on property repossession, the
government has continued to reconstruct thousands of destroyed Serb
houses," the report said.
HRW said that on April 20 the European Commission recommended that
negotiations for accession to the European Union be opened with
Croatia, at the same asking Croatia to "accelerate efforts to
facilitate the return of Serb refugees from Serbia and
Bosnia-Herzegovina".
Denber said that "tangible progress on returns must remain a
precondition to EU membership for Croatia."
The report said that around 300,000 Serbs had fled Croatia during
1991-1995 war and that there were no precise figures for those who had
returned since. "The Croatian government has registered more than
108,000 returns, but after a short stay, many returnees depart again
for Serbia or Bosnia."
(Hina) vm