As a result of the war’s devastation from 1992 to 1995, many citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) were forced to leave their homes. A large number of them left Tuzla Canton (TC), and significantly more of them flocked to this region of our country.
In the years after the war, the process of return was initiated, and as time goes on, it is waning because only a few want to live in the milieu of fear, nationalism, and lack of perspective.
The Government of TC has been supporting returnees to this Canton, but also to the Republika Srpska (RS), for years. In the year behind us, two programs were implemented, on the basis of which only 98 people returned to the pre-war camps, of which 32 were to the area of TC and 66 to the RS.
Pressures, nationalism, and denials
Almost three decades after the end of the war, Bosniak returnees are almost daily exposed to pressure through the glorification of war criminals, the denial of crimes, and the adjudged genocide by the Bosnian Serb authorities at all levels, in the media, but also in the educational process.
Srebrenica is one of the largest places of returnees in BiH, and in the years after the war, the returnees were mostly driven there by optimism and the desire to revive this bazaar.
However, today the reality is much harsher, and the lack of perspective can be felt at almost every corner, and nationalist tensions are one of the main triggers that make young people decide to leave this small town.
Money is allocated, but there are no returnees
The analysis covering the period from 2018 to today showed that the increase in investment in the reconstruction and construction of infrastructure facilities in returnee settlements contributed to a sustainable return, however, there are no new returnees.
The aforementioned analysis also showed that the number of displaced persons in the territory of TC decreased from 8.943 in 2021 to 8.720 in 2022, klix.ba reports.
E.Dz.
