GERMANY REPATRIATES FIRST GROUP OF BOSNIAN REFUGEES

SARAJEVO, Dec 4 (Hina) - Germany on Wednesday repatriated the first group of Bosnian refugees under an agreement signed by the two governments in September. The group of 24 refugees, mainly Moslems, arrived in Sarajevo from Munich aboard a plane chartered by the government of the state of Bavaria. Among them were 11 persons who had committed various criminal offences in Germany, which was the main reason why they were sent back home. All the refugees were later transferred to a reception centre in Srednje, about 30 km north of Sarajevo. Before the war, these people lived in Banja Luka and Brcko, the towns now controlled by Bosnian Serbs. Under the September agreement, about 90,000 refugees are to be repatriated to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1997, while the remaining 230,000 who have found a temporary refuge should leave Germany by the year 2,000. (hina) vm mm 042136 MET dec 96