New Step Towards Reintegration of B&H

Everybody Out of Other People's Homes

AIM Sarajevo, 22 April, 1999

Will Alija Izetbegovic be left without a roof above his head? At the same time, will chairman of the National Assembly of Republika Srpska Petar Djokic, party leaders such as Rasim Kadic, Zlatko Lagumdzija, Ivo Andric Luzanski, Ejup Ganic, Jadranko Prlic, Halid Genjc, Ivo Komsic, Miro Lazovic, Stanko Sliskovic, several ten ministers, deputies and party dignitaries from both entities, their advisors like Mirzo Hajric, Kemal Muftic, journalists and editors of various media, local power wielders and their relatives, drivers and secretaries of all these "heroes of our time", and along with them by far fewer refugees who have exchanged their prewar places of residence for new addresses in other parts of B&H among "their own", also have to leave their war loot - houses and apartments larger and on better locations than their prewar homes, but with someone else's names on prewar papers? UN High Representative for civilian issues in B&H, ambassador Carlos Westendorp, in accordance with his duties and responsibilities, reached a decision to annul all permanent housing documents issued during the war. Relevant municipal authorities will be in charge of the review of documents, and Westendorp has already announced that politicians who might oppose implementation of this decision or obstruct it - would be removed from their posts!

Westendorp even conditioned convening of a donors' conference for B&H planned to be held by the end of the first half of this year by implementation of this decision. This decision would practically mean that "veterans will have to be thrown out in the street because of old women who may wish to return from Belgrade", as a long time ago Alija Izetbegovic, Bosniac member of B&H Presidency, lamented sekking support from the public for preservation of the status quo. But judging by the data of B&H Ombudsman according to which in as much as 80 per cent of usurped housing units are occupied by persons who already have a roof above their heads or who are not refugees at all, it seems that Westendorp's decision affects more "veterans" from the ranks of the politicians than those who have actually spent the war in the trenches.

Before the war, there were more than 250 thousand so-called socially-owned housing units, and an enormous number of families which lived as sub-tenants. If one takes into account the course of the war and the large number of devastated housing units and an even larger number of displaced and refugee families outside B&H, by simple arithmetic one could establish that at this moment there could even be a surplus of housing units. But at this moment, although there are no sub-tenants except for foreigners in the cities, there is a lack of housing units mostly for those who wish to return and who are members of a minority in the environment they are returning to. During all the war years, but also the postwar ones, housing units have been an exceptionally powerful instrument for manipulating people in B&H, but also ethnic homogenisation - everything that parties in power had thunderously promised but failed to do for the people was compensated by allocating other people's housing units to them and promises that nobody would ever throw them out, not even prewar tenants who may wish to return. Various "important documents" were invented for this purpose, such as the legendary "criteria for allocation or reclaiming of housing units" which was the subject of a long controversy between the Office of High Representative and federal authorities. These criteria were intended to determine how situations should be solved such as, for example, if a family which is returning has a smaller number of members than the one which is using their apartments (the domestic invention was that the more numerous family was entitled to remain in the other people's apartment, and the prewar tenants would somewhere and sometime be given another accommodation!?). Then B&H Ministry of Internal Affairs (MUP) or even the local community investigated the whereabouts of the prewar tenants before the war and issued them the so-called certificates on movements (probably to eliminate "deserters" and "aggressors"), where and from whom they received humanitarian aid, and then shadowed and checked them for months in order to determine where exactly they were at the moment. All these criteria were characterised by Westendorp as "an additional element for manipulations".

By solving housing issues offhand, personnel problems were resolved in political parties and in the administration. During the war and after signing of the Dayton peace accords, 17 thousand of the so-called permanent decisions were issued, and in this way permanently prevented prewar users to return to their flats. The obedient, loyal and devoted were awarded, and the deceived and the cheated were silenced by permanent decisions on allocating housing units. Numerous efforts of the international community to amend this could not help - annexes, conferences in Bonn, Sintra, Madrid, decisions of the Council for Peace Implementation, Sarajevo and Banja Luka declarations, threats with sanctions, abolishment of war laws and new decisions of B&H Presidency on return of six thousand families in all three directions were all in vain... That is why ambassador Westendorp has finally reached out for the power given to him by the international community: "Nullification of permanent decisions issued during the war is the only solution in accordance with Dayton peace agreement and principles of the rule of law. Prewar holders of tenancy rights were deprived of tens thousand of socially owned housing units in both entities pursuant laws and administrative practice related to abandoned property. After nullification of rights of prewar tenants, the authorities assigned housing units as they pleased. The procedure was carried out arbitrarily and illegally. Displaced persons were mostly issued temporary decisions, and housing units were permanently allocated to persons who in this way improved their housing situation. In some cases holders of permanent decisions kept their prewar apartments and some of the decisions were backdated in order to avoid requirements of the law. It is clear that by permanent allocation of apartments rights of a large number of citizens are violated and war profiteering is legalised", it is stated in the explanation of Westendorp's decision which is absolutely in harmony with what media which do not speak by dictate of the ruling parties have written all these years. This decision must be implemented and even become a law, Westendorp says. For a successful implementation of this decision, government of RS will be asked to amend certain articles of the law which regulates housing problems.

And how was the decision received? With approval and enthusiasm among the citizens and some of the associations of refugees, banished and displaced persons, both in Bosnia and in the world. But political structures and associations of banished persons which advocate ethnic homogenisation ("Stay" from RS and Sarajevo association against the Declaration on Return) did not welcome Westendorp's move with approval, of course. In RS they say they have not received the decision yet although in OHR they claim the opposite. But, nowadays they have plenty of other problems there from the crisis of power in RS itself to bombing of neighbouring Yugoslavia which they are closely linked to, so they are not concerned much about housing problems, an anonymous source there claims. The government of the Federation has not issued an official statement yet although only the relevant minister said on couple of occasions that nobody would be thrown out in the street. In Dnevni Avaz, daily close to him, Alija Izetbegovic claimed that nobody would have to go out of an apartment as long as there was any legal foundation for their remaining in it or, as he said, if he had any paper at all!

In OHR they also say that people will not be forced out in the street: local authorities are obliged to provide accommodation (possibly even in collective centres) for everybody. It is interesting that the Croat Democratic Community supported this decision of Carlos Westendorp hoping that this would accelerate implementation of Sarajevo declaration and Annex VII of the Dayton peace agreement. For HDZ this decision is an opportunity to make return of Croats to Sarajevo easier, which was obstruced during all these years and due to which this party sought various political solutions convincing the international community that the Bosniac leadership was trying to banish the Croats from Sarajevo. In return, HDZ seems to be ready to give back the housing units usurped by its cadre most of which are in western Mostar. This stand of HDZ exceptionally pleased the Bosniacs in the Mostar region because they believe that this will enable their return to the territory controlled by Croat Defence Council (HVO). The Party of Democratic Action (SDA) and its party satellites from CD coalition claim that they consider this decision "acceptable", but "only if it is going to be equally implemented in both B&H entities". "This decision must be employed in two-direction return and selective implementation is out of the question", said spokesman of SDA.

United organization of veterans of B&H (JOB B&H) and association called Declaration of Sarajevo are waiting for the official interpretation of the decision in order to establish their attitude towards it, and in the organisation of families of jihad warriors and killed combatants of B&H, which used to give housing units claiming that nobody would ever be thrown out of them, they say that "this decision means that 25 thousand members of jihad warrior families will have to move out". Without minimising the misfortune of those who have lost their dearest ones during the war, one should keep in mind that majority of these families usurp more than one housing units, because they either took other people's apartments when they separated from their parents or were subtenants before the war, so it is difficult to imagine that their problems can be resolved by giving them as a present something that was seized from somebody else.

It is interesting to hear what the foreign political advisor of the Bosniac members of Presidency of B&H Mirza Hajric says, since he himself is also living in someone else's apartment as before the war he did not have one: "This is the option which is the most expensive one. The international community should be asked to give the money in order to resolve the problem of returnees. It should ensure return of 78 thousand refugees from RS to their homes", says Hajric adding that the right of prewar tennats is not questioned regardless of the number of returnee family members, so that it may happen that a single-member family returns to a five-room apartment. Hajric also pointed out to the need "to seek opinion from international financial organizations, the World Banka and the IMF whether they approve conditioning of the donors' conference by implementation of this decision. I think that they do not", said this new holder of tenancy right, Hajric.

Hana Bajraktarevic

AIM Sarajevo