Bosnia and Herzegovina: Repatriation of Christian refugees (Orthodox and Catholic) to Bosnia and Herzegovina (June 1999-June 2000)

A 27 June 2000 AFP dispatch reports that a newly rebuilt Catholic chapel was destroyed by explosives in Derventa, north of Republika Srpska. According to an unnamed Bosnian radio, this attack was another in a series of similar attacks which had targeted Croat returnees and Catholic sites in Derventa region (Central Europe Online 27 June 2000). For instance, a few days before in the village of Bijelo Polje, a container in which a Croat returnee was sleeping, was the target of shots that did not injure the occupant, while Croat returnees in the nearby village of Ratisic twice found mines "recently" put on their properties (ibid.). As well, the office of the Catholic Church in Derventa was reported to have been broken into (ibid.).

At a session of Catholic priests held in early 2000 in Sarajevo, Auxiliary Bishop Msgr Pero Sudar stated that 10,751 parishioners had returned to their pre-war parishes in Sarajevo Archdiocese, which covers central and north-eastern Bosnia and Herzegovina (HINA 3 June 2000). He also indicated that priests had returned to 55 parishes out of the 147 parishes in Sarajevo Archdiocese (ibid.). While Msgr Sudar claimed that fewer than 100 refugees had returned to [Catholic] parishes in Republika Srpska (ibid.), the Archbishop of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Banja Luka (Republika Srpska) Bishop said that 500 out of more than 220,000 displaced Croats and Catholics had returned to northern Republika Srpska since the signing of the Dayton peace agreement in 1995 (HINA 30 July 1999). Msgr Sudar explained the small number of returns to Republika Srpska by the insecure environment, abuses against returnees, the lack of assistance for rebuilding houses, the lack of guaranteed national rights and the scarcity in available jobs (ibid. 3 June 2000).

Other sources consulted by the Research Directorate provide information on Serb, Croat and Muslim repatriation to Bosnia and Herzegovina without reference to Orthodox or Catholic Christianity.

According to the USCR, 5,960 Croats and 4,370 Serbs returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1999, including 1,962 Serbs and 339 Croats to Republika Srpska (2000).

According to the UN, 25,000 Muslim and Croat refugees had returned to Republika Srpska since the signing of the Dayton peace agreement in 1995 (RFE/RL 20 Mar. 2000), including 13,000 since the beginning of 1999 (HINA 21 Mar. 2000). There are also references to cases of "spontaneous returns" (ibid.; OHR July 1999).

The International Helsinki Federation reports that there were more returns to rural areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina than to urban areas which used to be multi-ethnic before the war (IHF-HR 2000, 93). According to the USCR, most returnees to Bosnia and Herzegovina were elderly people returning to rural areas which provide fewer economic opportunities than cities (2000). For more than two-thirds of the refugees, the return to their original home was impossible, which made them internally-displaced persons(ibid.). This situation led a majority of returnees to settle in areas dominated by their ethnic group (ibid.).

According to several sources, returnees have to face obstacles from the authorities of both entities (AI 2000; Helsinki Committee for Human Rights in Republika Srpska Feb. 2000).Some Croat and Serb refugees who try to return to their pre-war homes in Bosnia and Herzegovina often find their homes either destroyed or occupied by members of other ethnic groups (HINA 11 Feb. 2000; Tanjug 10 Jan. 2000; AP 20 Jan. 2000; HINA 10 May 2000; IHF-HR 2000, 93). Some returnees who did not receive any help for reconstruction, returned to their temporary accommodation (USCR 2000).

According to the International Helsinki Federation, returns to Republika Srspka are the most difficult owing to the discrepancy between commitments made by authorities and their realization (IHF-HR 2000, 93). Returnees are said to have problems finding assistance to rebuild their homes (HINA 3 June 2000) and reclaiming their property as only 460 of 30,000 requests for repossession of property had been processed (HINA 30 July 1999). Under a law in Republika Srpska, the Ministry for Refugees has to return homes to Bosnian Croat returnees who request them within one year while providing alternative housing to evicted occupants (AFP 30 May 2000). However, the Minister for Refugees stated that it could not fulfil this requirement (ibid.). On 9 March 2000, Croatia and Republika Sprska signed a joint statement requiring both governments to carry out the return of Croatian Serb refugees to Croatia and Bosnian Croats to Republika Srpska, a decision financially supported by the United States (HINA 9 Mar. 2000). However, on 30 May 2000, the parliament of Republika Srpska instructed the government to suspend the return of homes to Bosnian Croats as long as the Croatian Serbs did not have the same rights in Croatia (AFP 30 May 2000).

In June 2000, Sarajevo Auxiliary Bishop Msgr Pero Sudar stated that returnees to Republika Srpska had few chances to find employment there (HINA 3 June 2000). According to unnamed independent media in Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina, the Muslim-Croat entity, some 10,000 Serb and Muslim returnees live in "extremely difficult conditions" in Livanjsko Polje Livno, a Croat-controlled city in Western Bosnia and Herzegovina (Tanjug 10 Jan. 2000). Serb returnees living in villages in the area of Drvar, Grahovo and Glamoc, including more than 50 per cent of the elderly, do not receive any assistance to repair or rebuild their houses (ibid.). The article also refers to a lack of electricity, water, schools, medical care, organized transport, and employment (ibid.).

According to HINA, the 4,000 Croats who live in Bugojno, in Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina, are said to be "marginalised" when they apply for jobs in public firms (11 Feb. 2000). The article also mentions that the premises of what used to be a Croat school have not been returned to the owners, which contradicts recommendations and decisions of the Office of the High Representative [of the OSCE] (ibid.). In the meantime, the school is housed in the building of the Roman Catholic Church (ibid.).

Minority returnees find it difficult and expensive to obtain identification and registration documents (Tanjug 10 Jan. 2000), and are subjected in certain cases to expulsion (USCR 2000). In Drvar, in Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina, returnees are liable to expulsions if they do not de-register from their place of displacement, register with the municipal authorities and obtain their identification documents within 10 days, following instructions issued by the Cantonal Interior Minister (OHR June 1999). However, the OHR indicates that these instructions are illegal since the maximum penalty for failing to obtain identification documents is a fine (ibid.). The OHR further adds that authorities prevent returnees from obtaining identification documents accordingly (ibid.). For instance, the local police authorities refused to enforce a 30 July 1999 decision of the High Representative requiring them to replace pre-war identification documents and issue the new documents to returnees (OHR July 1999). Returnees need these documents to move freely and obtain social benefits including health benefits (ibid.). In June 1999, there were about 4,000 returnees in Drvar (OHR June 1999). The USCR also points to the difficulty for returnees to obtain public services in both entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (2000).

Sources also report hostility towards returnees, threats and violent acts carried out on returnees by members of the local dominant ethnic group in both entities (The Washington Post 11 Mar. 2000; USCR 2000; IHF-HR 2000, 93; ibid. Dec. 1999 - Mar. 2000; AI 2000; HINA 3 June 2000; OHR Nov. 1999- Jan. 2000; ibid. July 1999; ibid. June 1999).

USCR and Amnesty International claim that the police forces are unable to protect returnees (USCR 2000; AI 2000) although in March 2000, the Washington Post reported the case of three men living in Muslim-dominated Bocina Donja in Federacija Bosna i Hercegovina who were given suspended sentences after beating and torturing two Serbs (11 Mar. 2000).

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Agence France Presse (AFP). 30 May 2000. "RS Parliament Suspends Return of Homes to Croat Refugees." (NEXIS)

Amnesty International. 2000. Bosnia-Herzegovina [Accessed 27 June 2000]

AP Worldstream. 20 January 2000. "Almost 20,000 people from ethnic minorities returned to largely Muslim Sarajevo." (NEXIS)

Central Europe Online [Prague]. "Recently Repaired Catholic Chapel Destroyed by Explosives in Bosnia." [Accessed 27 June 2000]

Helsinki Committee For Human Rights in Republika Srpska [Bijeljina]. February 2000. Protection, Promotion and Monitoring of Human Rights in Republika Srpska [Accessed 13 June 2000]

HINA [Zagreb, in English]. 3 June 2000. "Bosnia: Croat Population in Sarajevo Reduced to Half Pre-War Numbers." (BBC Worldwide Monitoring 3 June 2000/NEXIS)

_____. 10 May 2000. "UNHCR: No Croat Refugees Returned to Herzegovina in 2000." (FBIS-EEU-2000-0510 10 May 2000/WNC)

_____. 21 March 2000. "Ogata Notes Positive Changes in Refugee Return to Serb Republic." (FBIS-EEU-2000-0321 21 Mar. 2000/WNC)

_____. 9 March 2000. "Picula: Visit to Banja Luka Watershed in Cro Relations with Bosnia. " (FBIS-EEU-2000-0309 9 Mar. 2000/WNC)

_____. 11 February 2000. "Of 17,000 Pre-War Croats in Bugojno, There are Now Only 4,000." (FBIS-EEU-2000-0211 11 Feb. 2000/WNC)

_____. 30 July 1999. "Bosnian Bishops Warn Sarajevo Summit About Serbs Blocking Return of Refugees." (BBC Worldwide Monitoring 31 Jul. 1999/NEXIS)

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF-HR). 2000. Bosnia and Herzegovina. [Accessed 27 June 2000]

_____. December 1999 - March 2000. Periodic Reports from the OSCE Region. [Accessed 27 June 2000]

Office of the High Representative (OHR) [Sarajevo]. November 1999-January 2000. Human Rights Coordination Centre Human Rights Monthly Report [Accessed 13 June 2000]

_____. July 1999. Human Rights Coordination Centre Human Rights Monthly Report [Accessed 13 June 2000]

_____. June 1999. Human Rights Coordination Centre Human Rights Monthly Report [ Accessed 13 June 2000]

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) [Prague]. 20 March 2000. "UN High Commissioner for Refugees Welcomes Croatian, Bosnian Refugee Returns."

[Accessed 20 Mar. 2000]

Tanjug [Belgrade, in English]. 10 January 2000. "Serb, Muslims Returnees to Western Bosnia Face 'Abject Poverty'." (BBC Worldwide Monitoring 10 Jan. 2000/NEXIS)

U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) [Washington D.C.]. 2000. Country Report: Bosnia and Herzegovina.

[Accessed 13 June 2000]

The Washington Post. 11 March 2000. Jeffrey Smith. "A Bosnian Village's Terrorist Ties; Links to U.S. Bomb Plot Arouse Concern About Enclave of Islamic Guerrillas." (NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

IRB Databases

Resource centre country file on Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Internet sites including:

The Balkan Human Rights Web Pages

British Helsinki Human Rights Group

Human Rights Watch (HRW)

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

Transitions [Prague]

World News Connection (WNC)