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The present report on obstacles and perspectives for the repatriation of refugees from Serbia to Croatia aims to give an overview of the repatriation process during 2005, to highlight positive steps and progress, as well as identify remaining problems that should be resolved in order to further enhance this process.
The settlement of the refugee crisis, triggered by the wars in Former Yugoslavia during the nineties, began after the signing of the Dayton Agreement in 1995; this process developed much more rapidly in Bosnia and Herzegovina, partly due to the presence of the international community, whereas in Croatia repatriation was much slower, only picking up pace during 2000.As a consequence of war during the nineties, about 400.000 former Croatian residents, mainly ethnic Serbs, fled the country. Most of them sought refuge in Serbia, in several waves of displacement. Another several tens of thousands of them fled to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.According to the Croatian Government, around 120.000 refugees have so far returned to Croatia, while figures from non-governmental organisations working on repatriation to Croatia and UNHCR tell about 70.000 and 80.000 returnees respectively. Based on the latest census, Serbia currently houses 141.680 refugees; after data processing, refugee status was confirmed for 106.931 of them, predominantly from Croatia. Return to Croatia is mainly concentrated in rural areas of the country, where returnees have basic living conditions; urban returns, however, depend on many other important factors, primarily housing and employment.The root causes of problems linked to repatriation of refugees to Croatia should be sought above all in the political sphere, especially in the insufficient political will to resolve those issues, both in Croatia and in Serbia. We are often witnesses of various political manipulations with refugees, obstructions of return or simply lack of action by institutions responsible for protection of refugees in the country of exile and those in charge of supporting returnees in the country of origin.The broadest legal framework consists of relevant human rights conventions, especially the Universal Declaration, the European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Framework Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Minorities adopted by the Council of Europe. The most important documents on the regional level are the Dayton Peace Agreement and the set of bilateral international agreements concluded between and ratified by interested states. An important act is also the Succession Agreement, Annex G, concluded between the successor states of former SFRY, in Vienna in 2001 and ratified in 2004. Moreover, there is the domestic legislation of states in the region, which has been harmonised with international standards, as well as the documents such as the Croatian Government Programme on the return of refugees, or its programme for housing of former tenancy right holders. The most recent act binding the states in the region to work on a final resolution of the refugee crisis is the Sarajevo Declaration, signed by the governments of SaM, Croatia and BiH on 31st January 2005. Based on this act the Croatian Government adopted a programme of resolving the problems of returnees, entitled the «Road Map».The legal framework therefore presents no obstacles for the repatriation to proceed in a satisfactory and acceptable manner. In practice, however, there are numerous problems hindering this process. One of the key hindrances is the lack of accompanying political, administrative and budgetary measures. Although the overall conditions for the repatriation of refugees from Serbia to Croatia have improved during 2005 and a number of obstacles for return, including human rights violations, have been completely or largely removed, several key areas still remain where further progress is needed: property rights (restitution of property, tenancy rights, housing solutions), acquired rights (convalidation of previous employment status, payment of owed pensions), citizenship (including personal documents), employment, security of returnees, as well as ensuring non-discrimination through proper implementation of the Law on Minority Rights. Although not numerous, the incidents aimed at returnees, members of the Serb minority community in Croatia, still have serious consequences; it is particularly disturbing that the perpetrators usually remain unidentified.Moreover, no projects or clear strategy exist currently for the economic development and revitalisation of returnee areas, while the capacities of local self-governments are inadequate for the reception of returnees. On the other hand, relevant institutions in Serbia are not putting enough effort in providing potential returnees with information on repatriation programmes and the possibilities they offer; nor are they properly supporting and encouraging return. There is no evidence of their tendency to coordinate with the Croatian Government the enhancement of the repatriation process.Therefore the work should be stepped up among all stakeholders on removing the remaining obstacles for the return to Croatia: speed up the rebuilding of destroyed houses, more efficiently resolve the remaining requests for reconstruction and the proceedings in second instance in the reconstruction cases, as well as generally improve the work of the judiciary.It is also necessary to organise a meeting of responsible bodies of the governments of Serbia and Croatia, so that they could agree on coordinated measures aimed at enhancing the repatriation process and thereby contribute to the implementation of aims set forth in the Sarajevo Declaration. This entails an urgent agreement on the common matrix of the individual states’ “Road Maps” and the resolution of remaining problems stated in the conclusions. At the same time, the Croatian Government “Road Map” should incorporate currently missing elements, primarily in the area of efficient administrative and budgetary support of repatriation needs.The European Commission, OSCE and UNHCR should maintain a permanent dialogue with the governments signatories of the Sarajevo Declaration, in terms of fulfilment of obligations envisaged in this act; besides, a more active participation of the civil sector is needed in the monitoring and follow-up of progress in the implementation of these agreements. Constant dialogue, partnership and joint projects by NGO sectors in Croatia and Serbia are also very important for enhancing and supporting the process of repatriation on all levels of society.
According to the OSCE data, in the period 1991-1995 between 300.000 and 350.000 Croatian citizens of Serb nationality have left Croatia. More information in: »Report on Croatia's Progress in Meeting International Commitments Since 2001«. Source: <www.osce.org/croatia>
Data by the Ministry of Sea, Tourism, Traffic and Development of Croatia, presented in the document entitles: “Return of exiles and refugees to Croatia”. Source: <www.mmtpr.hr>
Besides information from SDF Zagreb <www.sdf.hr> and UNHCR mission in Serbia <www.unhcr.org.yu>, an important source about the number of returnees to Croatia is the OSCE mission in Croatia <www.osce.org/croatia>
The census was conducted from 27th November 2004 to 25th January 2005. The data collection was followed by refugee status confirmation. Source: <www.kirs.sr.gov.yu>
The succession agreement can be downloaded from the Croatian Parliament Information Catalogue, < www.sabor.hr>
The text of the Sarajevo Declaration can be downloaded from the web page of the Commissariat for Refugees of Serbia, <www.kirs.sr.gov.yu>
More in: »Return of exiles and refugees in Croatia «. Source: <www.mmtpr.hr>
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