Party for BiH's Request Fulfilled: Ordinance Enabling Returnee Status for Army of Republika Srpska Soldiers in Sarajevo Canton Amended

(Patria) - At the request of the Party for Bosnia and Herzegovina (SBiH) Club in the Sarajevo Canton Assembly, the Sarajevo Canton Government amended the Ordinance on the manner of realizing assistance for sustainable return and corrected an unjust provision that enabled former soldiers of the criminal Army of Republika Srpska to acquire returnee status.

"The amendments to the 2024 Ordinance enabled persons voluntarily returning from Republika Srpska to Sarajevo Canton to acquire returnee status. This allowed members of the Army of Republika Srpska from the occupied parts of the city, who destroyed our city and killed our fellow citizens during the aggression, to acquire returnee status and the right to funds for sustainable return. This potentially created an absurd and ludicrous situation where Sarajevo citizens would finance individuals responsible for killing Sarajevans and destroying our city, and for the reconstruction of facilities that these very individuals destroyed.

There is already too much glorification of crimes against our city and its citizens in the public space of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the region, so there is no point in cantonal institutions doing so by allocating budget funds for 'sustainable return' to individuals who participated in the aggression against our city. Such a thing is not and will not be allowed as long as we exist, vigilantly monitoring bylaws and preventing the introduction of such forms of psychopathology into the institutions of Sarajevo Canton.

The citizens of Sarajevo deserve respect for all they have endured and survived. Likewise, the citizens of Sarajevo need and expect at least an acknowledgment and apology from the aggressors, which unfortunately are absent. And the last thing Sarajevo citizens need is the introduction of Stockholm Syndrome as a standard for the work of cantonal institutions. Such a thing crosses all boundaries of reason, decency, and self-respect," the SBiH Club announced.

The Minister for Labour, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees of Sarajevo Canton, Enda Pavić Pečenković, submitted the amendments to the controversial Ordinance to the Sarajevo Canton Government, in order to correct the injustice pointed out by the SBiH Club and insisted upon for its amendment, for which the Party for BiH thanks her.