Pressure on Serb refugees to cancel residence in Croatia

Pressure on Serb refugees to cancel residence in Croatia

BELGRADE -- Miodrag Linta has sent an open letter about the pressure on Serbs driven out of their homes in Croatia to cancel their place of residence.

In the letter addressed to Croatian Foreign Minister Vesna Pusić, the president of the Coalition of Refugee Associations in Serbia "expressed regret over the arrogant and unlawful behavior of employees in the Croatian consulates in Belgrade and Subotica."

"They are constantly pressuring Serb refugees to cancel their place of residence in Croatia and give up their Croatian IDs if they hold a Serbian ID or refugee card," Linta wrote.

This constitutes a violation of the Law on Residence which states that any Croatian citizen living abroad with the place of permanent residence registered in Croatia and valid ID is allowed to report a temporary stay outside the country for the period of up to five years and still be able to preserve two IDs, the Croatian ID and the Serbian one in case they live in Serbia, Linta said.

He noted that in response to his letter, Croatian Minister of the Interior Ranko Ostojić confirmed this point. Nevertheless, the Coalition of Refugee Associations in Serbia has established that over 30,000 Serbs banished from Croatia were exposed to illegal behavior and decisions in the Croatian consular offices in the past 12 months, Linta said.

He called on Pusić to provide an answer as to whether the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent clear instructions to the Croatian Consulates in Belgrade and Subotica warning them that they must implement their country's Law on residence and make it possible for displaced citizens to preserve two IDs.

"If this has been done...