The Return Coalition
Final Report on My Activities in Bosnia
from 01.12.1997 to 01.12.1998
Bärbel Bohley, Sarajevo
Tasks
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Measures creating trust
among municipalities and minorities
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Contacts between old
and new neighbors
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Contacts among refugees,
displaced persons and their homeland municipalities
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Contacts between both
entities with the help of refugees’ and displaced persons’ associations
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Coordination of
international organizations that are involved in reconstruction of the
communities
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Support of the local
NGO on that field
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Explanation of the
correlation of the issues of displacing and reconciliation
Situation in 1998
The economical and
social position of one part of the inhabitants has improved in
comparison to 1997 due to the support of the international community.
However, a big part of inhabitants, primarily the displaced and refugees,
still live under very difficult circumstances. Although the year of 1998
should have been the year of the return, the process of returning went
only slowly and not satisfyingly.
This applies also to the development of new structures. Legal
uncertainty, corruption and misinformation are still present and have a
significant impact on the process of returning. The elections have not
established a breakpoint for the return issue, because the nationalist
parties still determine the public life in the same way they did before.
The return of the Bosniak to the Republic Srpska is still almost
impossible. Even within the Federation the return of the minorities to
the areas inhabited by the majorities is hard and made difficult by
nationalists in some areas. However, the practice of aggravation of the
return has become more difficult, as the donation of financial means
depends on the readiness to support the process of returning. In the
meantime numerous municipalities have declared themselves to be an “open
town” just because of that. However, only few really support the process.
After two years of working in Bosnia one can get an impression that the
assumptions for the return were better in 1996 than in 1998. The
political situation was more open because it was not clear how the
representatives of the world community would react to the resistance
against the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Today
nationalist have a stronger position because they can foresee the
reactions of the international community.
“Return Coalition” – a roof organization for refugees’ association from
Bosnia and in third countries
Even though the positive attitude of the political parties towards the
process of returning were only words spoken during their campaign, they
were forced to express their opinion about the topic because of the
pressure coming from the international community and, first of all, from
refugees. A significant contribution was achieved by the Return
Coalition.
The Return Coalition has always been the only organization, in which
refugees coming from all ethnic groups set together their efforts to
implement the Dayton Peace Agreement. Last year contacts were made among
Serbian, Croatian and Bosniac refugees’ organizations. During last year
some other refugees’ organizations and single persons joined the Return
Coalition.
The Coalition was also supported by OHR, OSCE, UNHCR, ECHO, SFOR and
other international and local organizations.
The contacts made last year with international organizations, NGO,
political parties, domestic and foreign politicians, representatives of
the opposition, of the churches and media were built up. The most
important contacts are quoted in the attached address booklet. (Enclosure
1)
Meetings
In 1998 the organization of visits of smaller refugees’ groups to their
former native municipalities was one of my main tasks, too.
OHR and UNHCR supported first visits of refugees in their old
municipalities, as well as talks with local administrations first of all
in this year, too. Both gave transportation facilities at disposal and
offered thereby a certain safety at crossing of the entities’ border.
Numerous regional meetings took place in both of the entities. There it
was explained if, when and under which conditions the return was
possible. Round tables were organized where representatives of the
municipality, of the parties, of refugees and of the local NGO and GO
branch offices took part. It was also tried to talk to new inhabitants.
They often learned for the very first time only from the representatives
of the Coalition that the return to the Federation is possible and under
which assumptions. Visits and meetings that took place in 1998 are
documented in the attached history of the Coalition. (Enclosure 2)
Information and Publicity Work
As the national parties strengthen their political position through the
displaced issue, they make attempts to manipulate with the displaced by
giving them insufficient or incorrect information. They approach the
topic from one side only in order to blame the other side for flaws in
the process of returning. Because of that it is still important for
refugees to have their own information net at disposal, which both
refugees and the international organization can dispose with.
This year the Information Centers that were opened last year in
Sarajevo, Zenica, Banja Luka and Bihać have been strengthened with a new
Information Center in Bugojno, whose primary task is to organize the
return of Croats to Bugojno. The Information Centers employ therefore
the total of 18 employees.
The Return Coalition has become an institution that is recognized in
whole Bosnia. Therefore the Bosnian media cannot ignore it. Večernje
Novine, Oslobođenje, Radio Zid, TV OBN, BH-TV, UN-Radio Deutsche Welle
etc. have often reported about the work of the Coalition.
“Putokaz” (published in 10,000 copies), the monthly information brochure
of the Coalition, appeared in 1998. Other newspapers publish articles
from the “Putokaz” when they want to report about the refugees’ issues.
(Enclosure 3) The information brochure is distributed through refugees’
organizations, embassies, NGO and SFOR.
Representatives of the Coalition have visited for several times refugees’
camps at the Croatian coast, in the Republic of Srpska and Serbia. They
have informed the refugees there about the possibilities of their return
and they have also distributed compensation requests for their
apartments, which they forward then to the municipalities in charge.
Self-Helping Project
The self-helping project “Thousand Roofs for Bosnia and Herzegovina”
could be continued in 1998, too. The German humanitarian organization
Cap Anamor provided funds for the construction of 900 further roofs in
1998.
Besides that, a similar project was financed by the EU in the amount of
1.9 million ECU. This project also had the target of building 900 roofs
in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The planned resources were not exhausted and
therefore it was possible to construct further 299 roofs.
In 1998 the total of 2,200 roofs were built in 52 places throughout
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The construction went under the same conditions as in the previous year.
Within three weeks the submitter of the request had to put up his roof
by himself. The submitters came from the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Most of the requests were made by the members of the Coalition. The
selection of the favored was influenced by social and political
standpoints, because first of all the return of minorities should have
been encouraged. As in that year the return to the Central and Mid
Bosnia made a special emphasis in the process of returning, the
submitter of requests coming from these regions were taken into
consideration more strongly. A representative of the Coalition took part
in the monthly IMG meetings in the Zenica – Doboj Canton.
The Return Coalition became through the project politically stronger,
because it was the only organization that could help fast and directly
in cases of a spontaneous return of refugees and the displaced. The
project helped the Coalition to become known in public and reinforced
the position of refugees’ associations in their negotiations with the
municipalities.
The experiences within
the project from the previous year were also confirmed in 1998:
1.
Putting-up a roof does not mean in each and every case that the house
would also be settled. About 10 % of the favored do not live in the
house, because:
2.
However, it was the right decision to limit the material help to the
construction of a roof, because a large portion of the house owners
continued to re-build their houses with their own money. That money
wouldn’t have been spent, if they had been offered a further help.
3.
Although the target was a cooperation with the municipalities, it was
sensible to give the material directly to the submitters of requests. In
the case, when it did not happen, the municipalities tried to manipulate
and to distribute the building material according to the ethnic
principle.
4.
A house with a roof is classified in a higher category, because the
grade of the destruction is not the same. That fact encourages other
NGOs to join the project. PIU Housing built 16 living units under our
roofs. A common project, together with Help, was completed for 55 Rome
families in Staro Selo and Sarajevo, who obtained the building material
for the roof from the Return Coalition and the material for building a
living unit from Help.
Problems:
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resistance in many municipalities against the realization of
the project because it is connected with the return of minorities.
Especially in Bugojno, Stolac, Čapljina and Busovača there was trouble
resulting in all the four municipalities with seven houses being
destroyed again. After the talks and negotiations that were condudted
through the OHR the houses were built again by the municipalities.
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the material had to be taken away from some of the favored by IPTF because they did not obey the provisions of their contracts.
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the additional project created by CIMIC “Windows and Doors for
Bosnia and Herzegovina” hasn’t been approved, and that would be the next
step in order to make houses suitable for living in them.
Political and Substantial Work of the Coalition
The Return Coalition has become representative of the refugees, accepted
by the population. At the beginning its members didn’t want to activate
themselves politically. Their only wish was to get back home again.
During last year the members of the Coalition became more and more
political. The crucial reason for that was their experience with the
ruling political powers in the country that only verbally support the
return, but actually obstruct the return.
The pressure at the local authorities coming from the refugees’
associations and the international community, in order to make them
fulfill their obligations that were stipulated by the Dayton Peace
Agreement (annex 7), as well as the publicity made by refugees,
contributed to the fact that possibilities of returning were opened at
some places where the return would have been unimaginable only a year
ago. In spite of all the resistance the Coalition succeeded for example
to bring back Croats to Bugojno, Bosniacs to Stolac, Čapljina, Šipovo,
Doboj and Serbs to Glamoč, Drvar etc. Only in the aforementioned regions
578 families obtained building material from the Coalition to put up the
roof on their house.
Today some of the representatives of the Coalition have political
functions. Some associations followed the example of Mile Marčeta who
founded the political party “Coalition for Drvar” and was elected the
mayor of Drvar at the communal elections and they transformed themselves
into parties. The parties “Coalition for Return to Modriča and
Vukosavlje” and “Coalition for Return to Doboj” were founded to take
part at the following local elections.
Representatives of the Coalition have been invited to Switzerland,
Austria, Germany, Sweden, Norway, America etc in order to present the
goals and the work of the Coalition. Talks with politicians and refugees
have been organized in various German towns to discuss the conditions
and the possibilities of returning.
The request of the Coalition to be included in the process of making of
decisions that concern its destiny has been fulfilled only partially.
However, representatives of the Coalition already work as experts in
different workgroups of the international community. Those are among
others Sarajevo Housing Commission, RRTF, Sarajevo Return Commission,
IMG, Workgroup for Education Issues.
Two representatives of the Coalition work as experts with the Sarajevo
Housing Commission, which takes place on weekly basis. On the basis of
the experiences with the submission of the requests for reparation of
apartments the deadline was prolonged from October 1998 to April 1999.
As many municipalities refused to accept those requests or increased
non-allowed fees, an agreement was made between OHR, UNHCR, OSCE and the
Coalition, which authorizes the representatives of the Coalition to take
over those requests and deliver them in corresponding municipalities. .
Since August of this year 1066 requests have been collected and
forwarded at the Information Centers. The above-mentioned Agreement is
an important step in the right direction, because it is the beginning of
a constructive cooperation between the Return Coalition and the
international community.
In Sarajevo, Bihać, Zenica and Banja Luka a lawyer makes a legal
counseling every day. Today the ownership issues still present the main
problem. While the legal counseling in Banja Luka can be done only in a
limited way, because necessary laws have not been passed in the Republic
of Srpska yet, the legal representation was taken over in 137 cases in
Sarajevo. 18 people were given back their apartments.
This year the requests for roofs have also been taken, and build
projects have been prepared. Representatives of the Coalition have
participated at all talks in the municipalities.
Since August there has been a database in the Information Center in
Sarajevo that collects information from other offices. This information
is used primarily by international organizations, when they try to find
suitable participants for their projects. From August till now 1271
visitors have been received.
The cooperation between the Return Coalition and the international
mediator Christian Schwarz-Schilling continues in this year, too.
Representatives of the Coalition participated in the negotiations and
controlled the implementation of the contracts that were made with the
communities.
Particulars about the political work of the Coalition can be found in
the enclosed history of the Coalition.
The political work of the Coalition for Return, as well as the
Information Centers, are financed by ECHO with 142,500 ECU till January
1999.
Problems:
In order to provide funds for the Coalition, a project request must be
made through a NGO, because the Coalition is not a legal person. In 1997
and 1998 the NGO Help made two project request at ECHO. This NGO also
made a subsequent request for 1999 at ECHO. Although the OHR should
continue to support the Coalition in future, it hasn’t been decided yet,
who will be in charge of the Coalition after my departure.
Future of the Coalition and Its Projects
The Return Coalition has been gaining more and more importance as the
dialogue partner of the international organizations because it has at
its disposal detailed information concerning the total refugee issue.
One of the targets must be to integrate the Coalition more strongly in
the activities of the international community, so that it can have
influence as an expert partner on the making of decisions regarding the
return.
The Coalition is still as important as it used to be, as it represents a
place of dialogue and meeting. Its future depends on the political
development in Bosnia. If the development is positive, one day the
Return Coalition would become redundant, because the right on return
would be enforced. A long way is to be passed until then.
Problems:
As the roof project has been finished, there is no project at the time
that could help the Coalition to gain further recognition in public. It
would be very positive, therefore, if the Return Coalition was to
receive funds for another self-helping project. This is especially
important, because the Coalition enjoys the reputation in Bosnia of
being the only organization that helps in a fast and non-bureaucratic
way.