More than 113.000 citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) still have the official status of refugees or displaced persons, even though the war ended 27 years ago.
From the state level alone, between 2009 and 2019, 382 million BAM (about 190 million euros) were invested in the repair of houses and apartments for citizens who returned to their pre-war places of residence, according to data from the state Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees.
But help often does not reach those who need it the most.
The audit services found that the competent institutions spend money intended for the returnee population in a non-transparent manner.
What are the conditions of public invitation?
The public invitation of the Federal Ministry for Refugees and Displaced Persons lists general and special conditions that must be met by everyone who wants the state to help them rebuild their pre-war home.
With documents, the potential user must prove that he is a refugee from BiH, a displaced person in BiH or a returnee to his pre-war place of residence.
The public invitation stipulates that the beneficiary of aid can apply for reconstruction only the real estate that he owns, which is not suitable for housing, and where he had a registered residence at the beginning of the war, in April 1991.
As the sixth condition, it is stipulated that the aid beneficiary and the members of his household in which he lived in 1991 do not have another real estate, which is conditional for housing in BiH.
Those who are qualified do not get help
Radomir Dzigerovic, from the municipal Office for Displaced Persons in Derventa, says that the Municipality has no influence on the selection of aid beneficiaries, because it is done by the entity ministries for refugees. The municipality helps only in the construction of roads, and communal connections for water, electricity, and sewage.
“The fact that the citizens complained, they are right. To be honest, I spoke publicly to everyone. Mostly, some people who did not deserve to pass according to criteria passed. And those who are poorer and perhaps live in collective accommodation did not pass. What is the criteria? How is that possible? We all know how it works, but I am powerless,” says Dzigerovic.
He adds that he recently visited houses that were built in previous years and that 90 percent of them are uninhabited, although the beneficiaries sign a contract committing to live in the renovated property.
Official data show that there are still 16.936 refugees outside of BiH, most of them in Serbia, France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy, Radio Slobodna Evropa writes.
photo: illustration
E.Dz.
