Return, with a Little Help of a TV Serial

AIM Sarajevo, January 31, 2001

"I have waited for years to return to my apartment in Alipasino Polje in Sarajevo. My late husband and I have earned that flat through more than seventy years of joint service. During the war we fled to Italy with our two grown-up daughters and were left without a single thing", begins her story Dragana Sarajic, a pensioner who has finally managed to return to her apartment a few months ago. That was the end of several years of knocking at countless doors and filling out multitudes of forms and applications. And it could have happened at least two years earlier. For, the first tenants in her apartment who, in 1998, had repaired their own war-damaged house in a Sarajevo suburb, instead of handing over the keys to the cantonal authorities, gave them to a certain doctor from Zenica. The doctor happened to be resourceful or, better said, on good terms with appropriate influential people, thus succeeding to obtain a permit for the temporary use of the Sarajic flat, while at the same time the family itself kept calling upon various commissions and anyone engaged in organizing the return of the refugees and in the protection of human rights. (It is estimated that there are around 260 international and 90 domestic non-governmental organizations in B&H engaged in various returnee programs). Last fall, when the Sarajic family finally walked into their flat, they were confronted with a familiar scene: an apartment void of all furniture, scribbled walls, ruined parquet, torn out sockets...

Marija Polovina left her kitchenette in the Sarajevo quarter Cengic Visa as late as of January 1995 to join her daughters in Belgrade. She tried to return to Sarajevo immediately after the signing of the Dayton Accords. She had not anticipated any problems since she had dutifully handed over the keys to the apartment to the firm that had given her the flatlet. But, the family presently living in it with the permit issued by the municipal authorities, in turn given the keys to the flat by the selfsame firm, keeps refusing to hand over what is not theirs. These people used to be subtenants before the war and the possibility of going through the ordeal again evidently does not suit them. Marija Polovina is now staying with a friend, waiting for her property to be returned to her.

Seventy-five-year-old Hanika Altarac left Sarajevo with her seriously ill husband in 1994, with the last Jewish salvation convoy, when they could endure the horrors of war no more. The husband died in the meantime, and from May 1996. to December 2000. Hanika kept trying to regain possession of her modest, one-room apartment. Her case is specific in as much as the Jews had reached an agreement with the city authorities that they would be able to return to what was theirs a year after the end of the war at the latest. Instead, numerous commissions did their best to deny Anika her right, obviously waiting - as in so many other cases involving senior Sarajevo citizens - that she dies (!?) Although infirm, with the help of her lawyer and the Ombudsman, Anika succeeded in regaining her apartment: four and a half years after having submitted the first request to enter upon her possession.

These three Sarajevo stories are but a drop in an ocean of similar destinies. Some of them are the subject of a TV series first aired at the beginning of this week in which refugees, displaced persons and returnees tell their stories in 30 five-minute shows - stories pointing to the challenges politicians and B&H citizens will have to take upon themselves if they really intend to make it possible for all in this country to lead a normal life. The series entitled "How Much Longer?" was produced in cooperation with Internews and the Office of the High Representative (OHR) and is being aired on working days, simultaneously on TV Sarajevo and the state TV net of the B&H Federation.

To this very day, probably by far the biggest problem B&H is faced with is the implementation of Annex 7 of the Dayton Peace Treaty, i.e. the issue of the return of all to what is lawfully theirs. More than five years have gone by, but the results are still crushingly inadequate. At the time of the signing of the Dayton Accord, the end of 1995, the demographic situation in B&H was the worst in Europe since WW II. There were around a million displaced persons within the country itself, about a million and a half in exile and approximately 500 000 Bosnians and Herzegovinians who lived to see their homes torn to the ground by the end of the war. At present, according to the estimates of the Refugee and Human Rights Department and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), out of the total number of refugees to third countries, the status of around 300 000 of them is still unsolved, meaning that they have not obtained either citizenship or residence permits in countries that had given them shelter. Around a fourth of those in exile are staying in third countries of the region (Yugoslavia, Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia) and another fourth in EU countries (primarily Germany, followed by the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Sweden, Austria).

Although year 2000 is often alluded to as "the year in which a favorable political and judicial environment for the return of the refugees was accomplished", existing figures do not correspond to the assumption. That is to say, during last year, 37 000 people returned to their homes as opposed to the 52 780 returnees in 1996, 178 500 in 1997, 139 500 in 1998 and 75 000 in 1999. In this respect, figures examined and verified in the Report on the Implementation of Annex 7 to the General Peace Accord for B&H of the Ministerial Council of B&H at the end of last year are highly illustrative. According to this report, in the period starting with the Dayton Accord and ending with September 1. 2000, there were 682 478 registered returnee cases - of which 360 478 concerned refugees exiled abroad and 321 730 displaced persons within the Federation itself. Moreover, there are around 476 000 internally displaced persons within B&H and around 381 000 of them in the Republic of Srpska (RS). Most of the first mentioned are in the Tuzla canton (111 981), followed by the Una-Sana canton (71 413), Zenica- Doboj and Herzegovina-Neretva cantons (approximately 70 000 each). As cited in the report, " the overall ethnic structure of the returnees to B&H shows that Bosnians have obtained a 74,55 per cent rate of returns, Croatians 20,09 per cent, Serbs 4,44 per cent and others 0,92 per cent, while 60,87 per cent Bosnians, 30,83 per cent Croatians and 0,38 per cent of others have returned to RS ". The largest number of repatriated persons have returned from Germany - 235 000 (there were 320 000 refugees in this country during the war) and Croatia - 33 000 ( during the war, 170 000 B&H citizens found shelter there ). The fact that only 10 per cent, i.e. 28 000, out of 297 000 persons who have fled to SR Yugoslavia have returned is conspicuous.

There were 157 724 instances of the so called " minority returns " to B&H constituting 23 per cent of the overall number of returns of refugees exiled in other countries and of displaced persons within the Federation. Out of this number, 123 528 minority returns were registered in the Federation itself (29 300 Bosnians, 50 893 Croats, 43 016 Serbs and 311 others), i.e. 78,46 per cent of all minority returns. In the same period, 33 904 persons returned to the territory of RS (27 232 Bosnians, 2 572 Croats and 249 others ), i.e. 21,54 per cent of all minority returns. The report has also established the fact that large numbers of people are continuing to leave B&H notwithstanding the signing of the Dayton Accord, as well as that a significant migration of refugees from B&H is noted within the host countries. Solely in the organization of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), around 100 000 B&H citizens have migrated to third countries in the last four years, most often to USA, Canada and Australia. As for B&H itself, New Zealand is the " smashing hit " of the moment, particularly when young couples are concerned.

Through the joint efforts of domestic and international subjects, a series of regulations directly or indirectly dealing with the issue of repatriation have been adopted both on the level of Bosnia and Herzegowina as well as on the entity level. Thus, the problem of returnees is regulated by laws concerning refugees, displaced persons and returnees both in B&H and the entities, Federation and RS amnesty laws, entity property ordinances and regulations guaranteeing the restitution of rental rights and of the right of buying off of apartments, ordinances facilitating the registration of the returnees, customs regulations...

As early as October 1999, with the support of OSCE, UNHCR and UNMB&H, the international community's High Representative to B&H, Wolfgang Petritch, initiated the Property Law Implementation Plan (PLP). Amendments and instructions for the adjustment and clarification of laws regulating the restitution of property in RS and B&H have been adopted, the purpose being " the creation of a consistent legal framework and equal rights, as well as the possibility of legal redress for all refugees and displaced persons in Bosnia and Herzegowina."

The objective of the PLP was to ensure all B&H citizens the right to the restitution of their property and to finally unlock the process of return. In spite of all, while some progress can be noted where villages in RS are concerned, the process is hardly noticeable in Banjo Luka and other larger cities. A positive trend has been noted in eastern parts of RS where people are coming back to places previously considered to be "off limits". In this respect, officials of the international community cite Zvornik, Bijeljina, Janja and Foca, as well as the surroundings of Srebrenica and the municipalities of Trebinje and Prijedor. But, what we are dealing with here are instances of spontaneous returns, having hardly anything to do with the efforts of the authorities entrusted with the implementation of the return policy. Should the international community be more resolute concerning the issue? According to a recent statement of the US ambassador to B&H, Thomas Miller, certain political leaders in B&H are doing their best to obstruct the return process, but " still, people are returning, in spite of the authorities that are doing absolutely nothing to assist them."

Besides the serial "How Much Longer?", a campaign with a clear-cut spirit defined by its very tittle, "No More!", has been launched in the media. With the assistance of the UN Mission to B&H and CRPC, it was put in motion by the Office of the High Representative, the OSCE Mission to B&H and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees so as to "push aside the most serious obstacles hindering the implementation of the property laws". The campaign, it was pointed out, has been initiated on account of those who, out of ignorance or, simply, lack of choice, still oppose the inevitable by refusing to move out of apartments and abodes for which the requests for the restitution of property have already been submitted. Of course, the message ensuing from the campaign tittle " No more! " is not addressed solely to these people, but to local authorities as well which, to the mind of the international community officials, do not fulfill their obligations, thus contributing to the slowing down of the return process.

According to their authors, campaigns "How Much Longer?" and "No More!" have been created in order to express the frustrations of those who, after having submitted their requests, are waiting for the day to enter upon their property, the anxiety of the temporary tenants concerning their own future and the concern of all involved in the process who, day after day, run into selfsame obstacles created by wrong assumptions and, in many cases, deliberate misinterpretations of the law. The first phase of the "No More!" campaign is focused on temporary tenants who have the means of solving their residential problems but have not done so. In other words, it pertains to "those who have voluntarily sold their prewar property or those who can in some other way afford to pay the rent. Included into the category are people with access to homes belonging to members of their households as they were in 1991." All above-mentioned classes of temporary tenants are thwarting the return of the rightful owners and tenants with the right of tenure and thus abusing the premises. In essence, they may be termed as double beneficiaries since their residential needs could be satisfied in some other manner, which, in turn, strips them of the right to an alternative accommodation. In short - they are to move out.

The second phase of the campaign is focused on the provision of alternative accommodation. Local authorities often use their failure in finding and securing alternative accommodation for those who, upon leaving someone else's property, really have no where to go, as an excuse for postponing the so called "entering upon the property" of the prewar owners and holders of the right of tenure. But the law leaves no room for speculation in this respect - authorities entrusted with residential problems and departments dealing with displaced persons and refugees in both entities are obliged to find and provide alternative accommodation. The lack of alternative accommodation does not impede the execution of the eviction order. "Resourcefulness in solving the problem is expected on the entire territory of B&H, while the time of excuses and inactivity has come to an end", is the stand of the international community's officials.

The third phase of the "No More!" campaign is aimed against the phenomenon of the "wrong impression". In the first place, the right of tenure cannot be sold and all instances of such practice place the buyer in an exceptionally risky position of being liable to lose both the apartment and the money. Secondly, apartments for which no property restitution requests have been submitted which makes them eligible for alternative accommodation, have been unlawfully privatized in some cases. Even the temporary tenants of apartments for which no restitution requests have been filed, must fulfill very specific prerequisites for their contracts to be verified. Throughout the B&H, the "No More!" campaign is promoted by witty TV spots and radio commercials enacted by popular B&H actors. Posters, advertising boards and newspaper advertising accompany this. A leaflet explaining the purpose of the campaign is also in circulation. So, who knows!? Maybe the whole thing works in the end. Maybe it has really been enough by now.

ADRIANA KUCI

(AIM Sarajevo)