OVER 43,000 CROATS LEFT SERBIA SINCE 1991

BELGRADE, Aug 28 (Hina) - More than 43,000 Croats left Serbia since 1991, say the estimates of the Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Serbia (HOS) based on field investigation and unofficial public data. The general conclusion is that an unsolved minority status, pressure and discrimination are the primary causes of the emigration. According to a 1991 census, 148,588 Croats lived in Serbia, whereas unofficial data show there are 105,406 living there now. Most Croats live in the western region of Vojvodina (bordering with the Danube region of eastern Croatia), where in 1991 their number was 110,904, while today it is 74,808. In Belgrade, according to the 1991 census, lived 16,275 Croats, but a 1996 estimate shows there are some 11,000 living there now. In the southern region of Kosovo, there were 8,062 Croats in 1991, but now only 2,000 are left. It is believed that the emigration continues to this day, HOS said on Thursday, adding that attacks on Croat-owned property have not yet been stopped. Seventy percent of Croats left Serbian municipalities of Apatin, Bac, Sid, Ruma, Srijemska Mitrovica and Stara Pazova (all in Vojvodina) during the war. These municipalities also registered the highest figure of attacks on Croats and their property, HOS said, adding the population's ethnic composition there now is changed. HOS analysts said the state did nothing to return the trust of Croats in those places, subjecting them to long waits in making sales contracts. If he gives up selling, a Croat seller is subjected to sanctions, HOS said. Croats employed with the state administration in Apatin, Sid and Bac are proclaimed redundant labour or are transferred to less responsible jobs, the HOS analysts further said, adding that Croats were postponing the final decision of leaving Serbia until issues related to the pension scheme and social insurance between Yugoslavia and Croatia are settled. (hina) ha 281545 MET aug 97