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Bosnia-Herzegovina
10-17 June 2002
The fact-finding visit to
Bosnia-Herzegovina focused on refugee return and housing property
restitution. Participants met with UN and government officials, NGOs,
and refugees and displaced persons in
 Sarajevo,
Kupres, Banja Luka and Kozarac. Approximately 1.2 million persons or
around one quarter of the population were displaced during the war in
Bosnia-Herzegovina. An estimated sixty-five percent of the housing stock
was destroyed. Annex 7 of the 1995 Dayton Peace Agreement affirms the
right of all refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes and
repossess their properties.
Common themes that emerged from the fact-finding visit included:
the importance of addressing minority returns; procedures and mechanisms
for addressing secondary occupation of
refugee homes; addressing sustainable return from the outset
of the process (e.g., access to employment, education, health, etc.);
building international political
will to implement the peace agreement; guarantees for sufficient
resources to implement all aspects of the return and restitution
process; and individual and community persistence in the face of various
obstacles that temporarily delay or block return and restitution.
The BADIL visit
would not have been possible without the valuable assistance support
provided by numerous individuals and organizations in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, foremost being the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC).
Special thanks to Ulf Edqvist (NRC) and Paul Prettitore (OHR).
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