Housing of Displaced Persons in Sarajevo Canton Continues

The Minister for Labour, Social Policy, Displaced Persons and Refugees of Sarajevo Canton, Karolina Karačić, along with her associates, held a meeting today with the Director of the humanitarian organization Hilfswerk Austria International, Suzana Jašarević, and the Mayor of the Old Town Municipality, Ibrahim Hadžibajrić, reports the BH News Agency Patria.

The meeting discussed the continuation of the implementation of initiated projects for the housing of displaced persons from the Sarajevo Canton area, as well as the delays encountered in the implementation of the Project "Construction of a collective housing facility, Baruthana – Vasin Han locality, Old Town Municipality, for the permanent housing of internally displaced families".

Representatives of the humanitarian organization Hilfswerk Austria and representatives of the Old Town Municipality of Sarajevo were informed on this occasion about all the activities that the Ministry had carried out in the previous period regarding the amendment of the legal framework, which aimed to create legal prerequisites for the implementation of the Agreement on the method of implementation of the Project.

In this regard, it was emphasized that on August 5, 2013, this Ministry sent an Initiative to the Committee for the Return of Refugees and Displaced Persons of the House of Peoples of the Parliament of FBiH to amend the Law on Displaced Persons and Returnees and Refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina ("Official Gazette of FBiH" No. 15/05), then that the Government of FBiH and the Federal Ministry of Displaced Persons and Refugees gave a positive opinion on the said Initiative, with the position that cantonal laws should precisely define the legal and rational reasons and criteria for determining the right to a substitute housing unit in order to prevent any abuse that would result in population migration from villages to cities, to other municipalities or entities.

It was concluded that in the coming period, activities towards the legislative authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be intensified with the aim of urgently adopting amendments to the Federal Law, which would remove legal obstacles for the further continuation of projects for the housing of displaced persons.

Minister Karačić also emphasized on this occasion her support for resolving the housing problems of displaced persons from the Sarajevo Canton area, as the only long-term and sustainable way to resolve the issue of displaced persons, which guarantees the full implementation of Annex VII of the Dayton Peace Agreement and its fundamental purpose, which is that all displaced persons should return to their pre-war homes.