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JRS West Balkans
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Political Developments
In
the Western Balkans, two important events marked 2008;
the independence of Kosovo, and the arrest and
extradition of Radovan Karadzic to the UN war crimes
tribunal in The Hague. Together, these events are a
turning point for the former Yugoslav countries of
Kosovo, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, that is, a
break from the ethnically driven politics of the past,
and a step towards integration in the EU.
The political situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina was
directly affected by events in Kosovo, with the prime
minister of Bosnia’s Serb entity (Republika Srpska),
Milorad Dodik, indicating that Kosovo was an example to
be followed in order to secede from Sarajevo. This
threat was part of a running nationalist feud between
Dodik and his Bosnian rival, Haris Silajdzic, a Muslim
member of the country’s tripartite presidency - who
himself has called for the abolition of Republika Srpska.
In April, Croatia and Albania received invitations to
join the NATO military alliance - a third country,
Macedonia had its invitation blocked by Greece amid a
lingering dispute over its name. Brussels offered Serbia
a Stabilization and Association Agreement, a deal seen
as a key step toward EU membership. At the end of the
year the economic crisis hit the Balkans.
Thirteen years after the end of the war, politically,
economically and socially the situation has yet to truly
stabilise. |
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Bosnia and Herzegovina
- As of June 2008 more than 132,000 Bosnians remained displaced.
- UNHCR registered 286 IDPs and 246 refugee returns during the
first half of 2008.
- Limited economic opportunities and lack of adequate housing
constitute the two main practical obstacles to sustainable
return.
- Roma refugees in Bosnia, remain vulnerable and dependent on
periodic extensions of their temporary protection status.
Croatia
- By the end of September 2008, a total of 387,093 returnees/IDPs
were registered in Croatia. Out of this number, 131,160 were
Croatian Serb minority returns. Access to rights and employment
remain a challenge for Serb returnees in their reintegration
into Croatia’s social and legal system.
- Some 7,000 displaced persons in collective centres remained
particularly vulnerable, living in difficult conditions. These
situations persist in neighbouring countries.
Bosnian refugees
UNHCR estimates that approximately 120,000 Bosnian refugees of
Croatian ethnicity, who obtained Croatian citizenship, have
integrated within the areas outlined by the ‘Special State
Concern’.
Asylum seekers
- Only four asylum seekers - from Sudan, Afghanistan and a Kurd
from Turkey - were granted refugee status in Croatia since 2004;
asylum requests doubled between 2006 and 2007.
Serbia
- More than 7,000 refugees from Bosnia and Croatia, and
displaced persons from Kosovo remain in collective centres,
often in substandard conditions.
Kosovo
- The number of voluntary returns to Kosovo declined, with only
229 registered during the first eight months of the year.
- Serbs, Roma, and Albanians from areas where they are in the
minority remain in need of international protection (UNHCR).
- Forced returns from Western Europe continued, with 1,727
persons returned in the first eight months of 2008.
FYR Macedonia
- Some 1,860 refugees from Kosovo remained in Macedonia. The
majority were Roma and Ashkalia refugees from Kosovo who had
been granted temporary ‘asylum for humanitarian protection’.
- The state failed to guarantee refugees access to social and
economic rights. Many feared forcible deportation; in June the
authorities agreed to suspend deportations pending the
resolution of the status of Kosovo.
Activities
Bosnia and Herzegovina
JRS supported more than twenty
families through the ‘Assistance to self-supporting mothers’
project in Sarajevo, both 80 people directly, and a further 200
indirectly. The project was operated on psychosocial,
educational, material and medical levels. A second project,
‘Elderly home care’ was aimed at vulnerable and displaced
returnees, assisting 50 people.
Croatia
Over the last 5 years
‘Reconciliation through alternative education’ has been run in
Knin. JRS has helped 50 children with different cultural,
religious and social backgrounds to live with their neighbours
in a peaceful atmosphere where tolerance is practised.
In October, JRS, with the
Croatian Red Cross visited the Jezevo detention centre near
Zagreb, helping and supporting detainees at a psychosocial,
material, educational, and medical level. Between 25-50 persons
are housed in the detention centre.
The ‘Telealarm’ project, helping
elderly people living alone, helped more than 300 people in
Zagreb County. The project was set-up by JRS and The Recobot
Foundation.
Kosovo
With the land mine survivor
support project, JRS helps rehabilitate young victims of
landmines. This year we helped 68 persons with medcial
procedures (prosthesis, eye surgery, limb surgery, orthopaedic
follow ups, rehabilitation through physiotherapy); the
rebuilding of their property; accommodation, food and travel for
students in university; transport to secondary schools; and
English courses.
Contact Details
Mr Josip Divkovic
Jordanovac 110
10000 Zagreb pp 169, Croatia
Tel / Fax: +385 1 23 46 129
josip.divkovic(a)jrs.net
To send an email, just replace the (a)
with @.
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