Croatia: Whether men travelling in September 1991 between Tenja and Sarvas (Eastern Slavonia) would have had their military booklets stamped by the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslavenska Naradona Armijg, JNA)
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa |
| Publication Date | 20 December 2007 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | HRV102698.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Croatia: Whether men travelling in September 1991 between Tenja and Sarvas (Eastern Slavonia) would have had their military booklets stamped by the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslavenska Naradona Armijg, JNA), 20 December 2007, HRV102698.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/47d65456c.html [accessed 1 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Tenja and Sarvas (Osjecka-Baranjska county) are approximately eight kilometres apart (n.d. Globefeed.com). Information regarding travel between these two places in 1991 was very limited among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. However, a former British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalist who covered the Yugoslav crisis in the early 1990s and who has published several books on the Balkans provided information in correspondence with the Research Directorate on 11 December 2007. The journalist is currently a political consultant specializing in South Eastern Europe. In correspondence, the Political Consultant explained the different types of militias and addressed whether or not a military book would have been stamped, as follows:
First, there were three basic military or para-military units operating on the Serb side: 1) the local militias, drawn from residents (almost exclusively male) and the local (Serb) policemen. They were generally poorly equipped and not integrated in the JNA structures so the issue of the military book does not affect them; 2) the militias drawn from Serbia and other regions (e.g. Bosnia).... Their units were integrated in the deployment of troops on the ground but were used generally as the teams responsible for mop-up operations that quickly became known as ethnic cleansing. But although integrated, they would not have had their military books stamped because they were not JNA. To get in and out of war zone, you only required documentation proving your (Serb) nationality. 3) The JNA. If anybody had their military books stamped it would have been officers and conscripts in the JNA but that leads me to point two:
In winter 1991, eastern Slavonija was utterly chaotic. The weather was appalling and the fighting was intense. I'm afraid in consequence I have to stay that it is impossible to say with any confidence whether standard military procedures were being followed at the time, as apart from the artillery units besieging Vukovar, this was as close to a free-for-all as you can get. (Political Consultant 11 Dec. 2007a)
In subsequent correspondence with the Research Directorate, the Political Consultant relayed the following personal anecdote:
Tenja and Sarvas were both on the front line which ran between them. Tenja was under Serb control but the Serbs only controlled about half of Sarvas. I drove between the two on more than one occasion at this time. I was stopped and checked by the local residents' militia but NOT by the military (there were no JNA patrols and so nobody was stamping anything). (ibid. 11 Dec. 2007b)
No corroborating information related to military passbooks could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.
The territory known as Eastern Slavonia was subject to heavy fighting between August and November 1991 (HRW 1997; IDMC n.d.; NY Times 17 Oct. 1995). During this time, Vukovar was taken and destroyed by Serbian forces from Serbia and from the Yugoslav People's Army (Jugoslavenska Naradona Armijg, JNA) (HRW 1997; see also IDMC n.d.). Serbian forces established control over Eastern Slavonia in late 1991 (HRW 1997; see also IDMC n.d.) and expelled 80,000 ethnic Croats from the region (ibid.; HRW 1997), some of whom found temporary housing in cities such as Osijek (HRW 1997).
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 for refugee protection. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Globefeed.com. N.d. "Distance between Tenja (Osjecko-Baranjska) and Sarvas (Osjecko-Baranjska) (Croatia)."
Human Rights Watch. 1997. Croatia: Human Rights in Eastern Slavonia During and After the Transition of Authority.
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). N.d. "The Conflict in Croatia: Overview (1991-1999)."
The New York Times (NY Times). 17 October 1995. Chris Hedges. "Croatia Reported to Move Troops to Disputed Serb Region."
Political Consultant. 11 December 2007a. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.
_____. 11 December 2007b. Correspondence with the Research Directorate.
Additional Sources Consulted
Oral sources: Experts from the University of Toronto, the Royal Military College of Canada, the University of Oxford, Feral Tribune and CANADEM were unable to provide information.
Publications, including: Global Governance, The Balkan Tragedy.
Internet sites, including: Amnesty International (AI), British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Courrier des Balkans, Federation of American Scientists (FAS), Freedom House, Global Security.org, Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC), New York Times, Radio Free Europe, Reporters sans frontières (RSF), United Nations Transitional Authority for Eastern Slavonia.
