WUNRN
IDMC – Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Ageing women of Bosnia, mourn for those killed in the conflict, with horrific memories of ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity. For women, home is a sense of security, of place of identity, of your private and personal space. But, these women of Bosnia & Herzegovina have been displaced for years, feeling lost in a struggle that continues to present challenges for repossession of property, existence beyond poverty, and political volatility. And, then there were the floods this year, 2014, the worst in a century. The elderly women of Bosnia, many alone, hope not to be forgotten, to find some stability, some justice, still in their lifetimes.
Bosnia & Herzegovina: Ethno-Political Agendas Still
Prolonging Displacement
A brother and sister displaced from conflict in the early
1990’s share a room in a collective center that is still home to 11 families,
mostly elderly IDP’s – IDMC July 2
Summary
Around 100,400 people remain internally
displaced as a result of the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Often
invisible, internally displaced people (IDPs) survive on benefits and meager income
earned through informal labour. They mostly live in private accommodation in
unknown housing conditions, while a small percentage still live in substandard
collective centres. Some continue to struggle to repossess their property while
others are unable, or do not wish, to repossess their property or return. Roma
IDPs are especially marginalised as they often lack documentation to access
services and assert housing and property rights. In recent years, after
focusing solely on promoting return, the government has taken measures to
facilitate integration of IDPs.
Those who have returned face a series of
challenges. Upon repossession of their property, some found secondary occupants
in their homes and were ordered to pay high compensation for investments made
by the occupants. Roma returnees have had difficulty repossessing their
property since they often lacked the documents required. Many other returnees
have had to reconstruct their homes without sufficient aid and little
opportunity for employment. The education system in some return areas remains
ethnically segregated, cementing divisions and preventing reconciliation. Some
returnees seek to retain rights to access health care and benefits in their
area of displacement when they are more advantageous. Physical attacks on
returnees have decreased in recent years, but continue nevertheless.
In 2014, the worst floods and landslides
on record seriously impacted work addressing internal displacement as a result
of the 1992-1995 conflict, increasing the number of people in need of
assistance. Many IDPs and returnees were displaced again and lost what they had
managed to rebuild. In some cases this reignited past trauma. The authorities
have an opportunity, while responding to the needs of the newly displaced, to
also address structural long-term issues such as extreme poverty and social
exclusion of those suffering from protracted displacement and those who have
not achieved durable solutions.
Politicians are doing little to
encourage a sense of common belonging and establish the facts of the events of
the 1992-1995 war to promote reconciliation. The persistence of the ethnic
divide in political discourse and policies encourages IDPs to remain displaced
or to return to areas where they belong to a majority group. Reconciliation is
essential for the achievement of durable solutions to displacement. It is also
vital to resolve outstanding property cases of IDPs, address requests for
housing reconstruction, design a livelihoods strategy for IDPs, returnees and other
vulnerable groups, eliminate segregated education, improve tenure security and
birth registration for Roma, step up efforts to determine the whereabouts of
the remaining 7,200 missing persons and resolve outstanding court cases related
to wartime atrocities.
Background
Displacement caused by conflict
Following Bosnia and Herzegovina’s
(Throughout this overview the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina is also referred
to as BiH.) declaration of independence from the Socialist Federal
Republic of Yugoslavia in March 1992, Bosnian Serb paramilitary units, militia
and police forces, supported by the mainly Serbian Yugoslav People’s Army began
a campaign to expel other ethnic groups from Bosnian Serb-held areas. Their aim
was to establish an ethnically homogenous Greater Serbia by uniting
Serb-majority areas of BiH and neighbouring Serbia (HRW, 2000). The armed conflict was also
characterised by other grave violations of international humanitarian law,
including mass killings, torture, systematic rape, forced labour and camp
confinement. Bosnian Muslim (Bosniak) and Bosnian Croat forces also committed
serious abuses in an attempt to create ethnically homogenous areas (HRW, 1 September 1993).
Over half of BiH’s 4.4 million people
were driven from their homes, more than one million were displaced internally
and another million became refugees. Bosniaks, Bosnian Croats and others, such
as Roma, Jews and other minorities in BiH, fled Serb-dominated areas, while Bosnian
Serbs mainly fled to Serb-dominated areas (Tabeau, E., 2009, p.678). The result was a dramatic shift
from ethnically mixed areas to those with ethnic majorities. Over 100,000
people were killed (HRW, 9 July 2013; Tabeau, E, 2009, p.387). At least 20,000 women and girls
were victims of rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war, as well as at
least hundreds of men (Ombudsman, 25 October 2013; UN Report of the Secretary-General, 13 March
2014).
Some wartime violations have been deemed
crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia, established by UN Security Council Resolution 827, had made 69
convictions by mid-2013 (HRW, 9 July 2013). The Tribunal recognised
rape and sexual enslavement in BiH as crimes against humanity, established
their link with ethnic cleansing (ICTY, 16 November 1998; ICTY, 12 June 2002; ICTY, 02 August 2001) and confirmed the
Srebrenica massacre constituted genocide (ICTY, 19 April 2004). The whereabouts of
around 7,290 persons have yet to be determined (ICRC, 2 July 2014). Mass graves
are still being uncovered. Additional funds, specialists, psychological support
and improved redress mechanisms for families are needed (The Guardian, 27 May 2014).
The 1995 Dayton Peace Accords (DPA)
which ended the war brought peace that has lasted to date. Reflecting power
relations that existed at the time the DPA provided for two ethnically defined
entities for three constituent peoples with equal constitutional status: the
Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina (FBiH), with mainly Bosniaks and Bosnian
Croats, and Republika Srpska (RS), with mainly Bosnian Serbs. A much smaller
self-governing administrative unit, Brčko District, was also formed.
While many displaced persons have since
returned, the political arrangement whereby territory was divided by ethnicity
has only served to further entrench divisions and slow the resolution of
displacement and related issues. Change requires the agreement of
representatives of Bosnian Serbs, Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks. The parties to
scrutinise any proposal for its potential effects on each group as well as on
the balance of power between them and access to resources (ICG, 10 July 2014).
Displacement caused by natural hazards
Floods and landslides in BiH are
increasing in frequency, aggravated by environmental degradation associated
with deforestation and construction in risk-exposed areas. Floods in May 2014
were the worst for a century. They caused $2.59 billion damage (GoBiH, July 2014). Over 43,000 houses were
flooded and 1,900 were destroyed due to landslides, many having been built
illegally in at-risk areas (GoBiH, July 2014). Significant flooding had
occurred in 2010 but subsequent preventive measures proved inadequate.
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