MC.RS
Milojko Budimir
In just a few days in August 1995, more than 200,000 of its citizens were expelled or “voluntarily” left today’s Croatia. On the eve of the date when Serbia marks the Day of Remembrance of the killed and exiled Serbs in the “Storm” action, and Croatia is simultaneously celebrating its historic victory, “Vesti” interlocutors analyze all important aspects of this event, but also where Krajina Serbs are today, 26 years later.
– There is no place where we are not, we are on all four sides of the world. Most of us are in Serbia, then in Republika Srpska, and then there are most of us in Australia, America… We are everywhere, but only in bodies. We are all still in our homes, in our homeland – points out Savo Strbac, president of the Veritas Documentation and Information Center.
According to official data, about 200,000 soldiers were engaged in Operation Storm against 230,000 Krajina Serbs, 30,000 of whom were in uniform, of whom 138,500 members of the HV, MUP and HVO took part in the operation.
– If the forces of the Army of BiH and NATO are added to that, there were more aggressors than the inhabitants in Krajina, and the ratio of soldiers was at least seven to one – in favor of the aggressors. With the beginning of the attack, the people of the western Krajina, more than 220,000 of them, taught by “historical experience”, are moving to the largest Serbian “migration” so far, to the east of the brothers by faith and nation. And when all resistance of the SVK stopped, the aggressor killed people who did not want or could not from their centuries-old estates, but also those in refugee columns, both to the Una and across the Una, deep in the territory of the then Republika Srpska – says Strbac.
Milojko Budimir, Secretary General of the Association of Serbs from Croatia, points out that the largest number of Serbs from Croatia ended up in Serbia, and that there has never been a serious intention in Croatia to return to these refugees – the citizens of Croatia.
– Since there was no return in significant numbers, many here in Serbia have permanently integrated, while one number has gone to third countries from America to Australia. The Government of the Republic of Serbia is continuously working to solve the problems of people who had to leave their homes during the conflict in the former Yugoslavia. But, despite all the efforts made, the refugee issue is not closed yet. The fact is that great progress has been made and a significant number of refugee families have achieved a permanent solution and received assistance in economic empowerment – Budimir points out.
According to a 2012 study “Minority Returns to the Republic of Croatia – Open Process Study”, commissioned by UNHCR and conducted by Croatian researchers, in 2010 slightly more than 130,000 Serb returnees were registered in Croatia, of whom remained in Croatia. to live about 38 percent, outside Croatia about 45 percent, and about 17 percent of them died.
– After the mentioned research, the statistics of the return of Serbian refugees did not improve. Data from the Central Statistical Office of the Republic of Croatia, which publishes data on population migration every year, show that they are still moving out more than they are returning. And no one runs away from the good. Returnees find it difficult to obtain their rights, such as rebuilding war-torn houses, housing former tenancy rights holders, returning occupied property, pensions, savings deposits, citizenship… In addition, they are threatened with attacks on physical integrity and property, some of which and implement, and protection is very weak and often non-existent. They are also exposed to the fear that they will be prosecuted for war crimes, because that process, although 26 years have passed since the war, is not subsiding – Strbac lists only some of the key problems of those Krajisniks who returned to Croatia.
Silent exodus
Savo Strbac points out that returnees in Croatia face various problems every day, which in the end force them into a “silent exodus”.
– We call this process a “silent exodus” because it is not as visible as the one in August 1995, which stretched from Knin to Belgrade and Pristina. This takes place daily – individually by public or private transport and with proper paperwork. Thus, the promise of protection of minority national rights, given by Croatian officials when Croatia joined the EU eight years ago, turned into its opposite – the Serbian community became even smaller, more disenfranchised and attacked – Strbac points out.
Speech numbers
– It is estimated that about 7,000 refugee families are still in need of a permanent housing solution. It is expected that their housing needs will be addressed in the coming period. The current situation would be more favorable if Croatia showed more will to solve many open problems. During all this time, only 60,000 refugees returned to Croatia – Milojko Budimir notes.
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