Serb refugees from Croatia still want their property, rights

BELGRADE - The Coalition of Refugee Associations stated that the meeting between Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic leads to further enhancement of the two countries relations, but it also warned that mutual respect would not be possible without first finding a fair solution to open issues.

The Coalition recalled that a number of issues still remain unresolved, such as the fate of persons gone missing in the past war, war crime trials, return of Serb refugees and IDPs and their property and other rights.

We expect the new Serbian government, which will be set up after the early parliamentary elections, to intensify the work of the existing commissions and working groups in Serbia and Croatia in charge of missing persons, return of cultural goods and borders, the coalition stated in the release.

In addition to that, Serb refugees from Croatia want the Serbian government to launch the initiative to set up an inter-state commission for the implementation of Annex G of the Vienna Convention on Succession which guarantees protection and restoration of rights to all individuals and companies which they had on December 31, 1990.

The Coalition of Refugee Associations pointed to the need for renewal of operation of the former Yugoslav-Croatian Commission set up in 1997 with the task of preparing the draft agreement on compensation for destroyed, damaged and lost property.

During the 1991-1995 civil war, over 400,000 Serbs left Croatia as refugees. According to the assessments of refugee associations, the value of their destroyed, illegally seized and usurped property is estimated at around EUR 30 billion.

Photo Tanjug/F. Kraincanic...