Three decades after the war, we are still talking about refugees: Who benefits from the return never ending?

(Patria) - At the last session of the House of Representatives of the Federation of BiH Parliament, representatives were supposed to discuss the Bill on Amendments to the Law on Displaced Persons and Refugees. However, at the last minute, the Government of the Federation of BiH withdrew this item from the agenda.

More than 110,000 citizens of BiH still officially hold the status of refugee or displaced person, although the war ended three decades ago.


Kajan: Why wasn't this done 25 years ago?

Member of the House of Representatives of the Federation of BiH Parliament Sanel Kajan (DF) states that it is unacceptable to still be discussing these issues in 2025.

- Is it possible that we are talking about refugees in 2025, 30 years after the end of the aggression against Bosnia and Herzegovina?!

Instead of discussing the formation of the Ministry for Youth and Family at the level of the Federation of BiH, we are stuck in a vicious cycle of war consequences. The return process should have been completed long ago - Kajan told the Patria News Agency (NAP).



The Bill, which representatives had the opportunity to see, also states that the Federal Ministry, together with the BiH Ministry of Human Rights and Refugees, the governments of Republika Srpska and Brčko District, within the Commission for Refugees and Displaced Persons, will harmonize criteria for selecting beneficiaries of assistance and for the reconstruction of return.

- What are we talking about? Why wasn't this done 25 years ago? - Kajan asked.

He also reminds that auditors have been warning about the inefficiency and lack of transparency in the system of assistance to returnees since 2021, but the situation has not significantly changed.



The Bill also introduces a new Article 11a, which defines that sustainable return includes economic empowerment of returnees, development projects, social and humanitarian programs, and other forms of reintegration support.

- This is not 1997. Help the people who have long since returned to their homes and are in trouble, and who are asking you to address the injustice they are experiencing. There has been no planned work on sustainable return.

As a result, even where return has occurred, the situation has become worse than at the very beginning. This has not only legalized ethnic cleansing but has also continued it in peacetime. Billions have been spent, and we are still talking about return - Kajan states.



He cited as an example some cities in Herzegovina, where associations of returnees - or, more accurately, long-term residents and indigenous families - suffer discrimination and humiliation from local authorities.

Bosnia and Herzegovina today has 14 different ministries and administrations dealing with refugees and displaced persons - at the state level, in both entities, in the Brčko District, and in the cantons.



Kajan also reminds that in 2016, the FBiH Government took out a loan of 41 million euros to close collective centers in Mostar and Konjic, but nothing substantial has changed to this day.

Collective centers still exist, in even worse condition than before, while their residents live in increasingly difficult circumstances.

According to available data, more than 100 collective centers still exist in BiH. The deadline for their closure was extended from 2020 to 2022, but it has not been realized even in 2025.



- Refugees in their own country doubt that this process will ever end. And it seems that all the numerous ministries, agencies, and administrations that are parasitizing on this are benefiting the most - concludes MP Kajan in an interview with NAP.

(D.K.)