Refugees - Hotels as Alternative Shelter

AIM Banja Luka, February 27, 2001

Republika Srpska Premier Mladen Ivanic publicly promised while taking office that not one of his cabinet ministers will be given an apartment as long as a single collective refugee center remains operational in the Serb entity. It is very likely that Ivanic will, in violation of Serb custom, make good on what he pledged: it appears that for at least some time both the refugees and the ministers will stay at hotels.

This, however, does not mean that hotels will become refugee centers. Representatives of international organizations believe that hotel accommodation should be an alternative. In other words, hotel rooms will be occupied not by people who have been sleeping on mats in school gyms over five years, but by those who will have to vacate "abandoned" Bosniak and Croat homes.

As far at the collective centers -- some 50 still operational in Republika Srpska -- are concerned, those who are sheltered in them should get much different and, hopefully, more pleasant lodgings. By the end of the year, according to the Ministry of Refugees and Displaced People, 3,000 houses and apartments should be constructed for the approximately 4,900 people living in collective centers. The homes range from 24 square meters for singles, and up to 90 square meters for families with children. If the government's promises are truly kept, the unfortunate residents of the collective centers will finally be "rewarded" for years of suffering and endless patience.

In two months in office, the new RS government closed two collective centers -- one in Zvornik and the other in Srbinje. By the end of the year the remaining 50, one of which is in Banjaluka, are supposed to share a similar fate. "We inherited this program from the previous government, which had already made arrangements for some 70 percent of construction work necessary to build homes for this category of refugees. It includes primarily people whose property was destroyed in the war and who have nowhere to return. Of course, those whose property in the Muslim-Croat Federation was returned are not eligible." says Minister Micic, adding that closing the refugee centers will cost about DM12 million.

A special problem is finding alternative accommodations for refugees compelled by law to vacate homes and apartments belonging to other people, and which they were allowed to use temporarily during the war. Bodies of local government are obliged to ensure their accommodation. They, however, lack facilities. This vicious circle, according to international representatives, is a major obstacle to refugee return which today, five years after the signing of the Dayton agreement, remains one of the greatest problems in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

To enable Bosniaks and Croats to return to their homes in Republika Srpska, the Serb refugees should be given temporary accommodations, until the problem of their property is resolved. This led to the idea of using hotels, which otherwise have many vacancies, as a means of facilitating the return process and as a way point in the application of property laws. "Some people have erroneously assumed that alternative accommodation means that they are entitled to a home. This, however, is only a temporary solution, a stage after which they should have their property restored," says Micic.

Although the minister believes that the hotel idea is "not that bad," it was not received with much enthusiasm either by refugees, local authorities, or by hotel managers. The municipal assembly of Prijedor refused to allow hotels on its territory be used for the purpose, despite the insistence of the OSCE and UNHCR. A recent encounter between OSCE and UNHCR representatives and the RS minister of refugees with local government officials in this town failed to produce results. The managers of the hotels Balkan and Prijedor, Zeljko Macura and Ranko Radanovic, left the meeting offended because international representatives did not want to hear what they had to say. Still, they decided that "negotiations" would continue in two days.

Similar talks followed in Teslic, and are planned for Gradiska and a number of other towns across Republika Srpska with hotels that have been virtually empty for years. "We are not planning to pay the full hotel price for refugees temporarily accommodated in these facilities. They are empty anyway. The ministry will pay only maintenance costs, in cooperation with the municipalities," says Micic.

According to one version of the plan, certain hotels would be exempt from privatization for a year or two to provide shelter for refugees who stand a chance taking possession of their pre-war property in the foreseeable future. The government also decided to take over a retirement home in Doboj for the purpose. It is certain, however, that these facilities will not suffice to meet the demand, because there are far more refugees in Republika Srpska than rooms in its unused tourist facilities. Prijedor alone, for instance, has a refugee population of 17,000, and only 50 rooms in its two hotels.

The Ministry of Refugees and Displaced People does not have precise data on the number of people entitled to this form of temporary accommodation. However, 70,000 requests for the return of property have been filed.

"Still," Minister Micic says, "the hotels will only serve as 'transit centers' through which refugees will pass on the way to their own homes or some other permanent solution." The ministry will issue hotel accommodation permits valid for three months. Those whose property is returned within this period will no longer be accommodated in hotels, and their place will be taken by others. Others will get new three-month permits.

It is true that the "Transit Program" will not solve all problems, but it is a good start. "I believe the idea should not be rejected downright. After all, it wouldn't be good to have international representatives objecting that they are offering us solutions, and that we do not want to accept them," Micic says.

Milkica Milojevic

(AIM)