It is the return of Serbs with BiH
citizenship who lived and worked in Croatia before the war that is obstructed
in particular and those people are deprived of occupancy, employment, pension
and all other rights.
”In cooperation with Croatian
authorities, the UNHCR has been providing transport to Serb returnees in
Croatia for 15 years now in order to create an impression that the return is actually
happening and that Serbs are okay in Croatia, even though our people in Croatia
don’t have any rights whatsoever, including the right to residence,” Puzigaća
told Srna.
He recalls that the association
representatives sent letters to the ambassadors of European countries, the EU
and the US, pointing to the violations of fundamental rights of Serb refugees
from Croatia, especially having in mind that Croatia is joining the EU on July
1, and that the country did not make it possible to those people to exercise
their rights to the fullest.
Commenting on a possibility for the
former occupancy right holders to buy flats from the state, who are
beneficiaries of the housing programme in Croatia, which, according to official
information, is supposed to start by the end of June, Puzigaća claims it is a
pure deceit by the Croatian authorities.
”Croatia does not want to return the
flats, which are mainly sealed up, to the Serb refugees – citizens of BiH,
because it deprived them of residence and buying rights. That is a disgrace on
the part of EU and the entire international community,” says Puzigaća.
Commenting on the announcements that
the purchase price of one square meter would equal 500 euros, Puzigaća says
this only confirms that the Serbs are discriminated against.
”The Serbs from Croatia didn’t live in
Sweden but in the territory of the former Yugoslavia as refugees and in
poverty, without any job, and those people don’t have the money to pay this
high a price to buy their flats,” claims Puzigaća.
Dragomir Stojnić, who fled Zagreb in
1992 and restored his occupancy rights in 2010, has told Srna that last year
the Croatian authorities didn’t allow him to extend his residence in Croatia,
saying he was “travelling too often to Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
The purchase of flats for former
occupancy right holders who are beneficiaries of the housing programme in
Croatia is supposed to start by the end of June at the latest.
The “formula” for the calculation of
purchase price has already been defined and the Croatian Government is expected
to pass a regulation on the purchase very soon. The biggest number of flats is
located in the Zadar region.
Three most important pieces of
information for the calculation include the length of time a person was a
refugee, the period of time payments were made to the housing fund and the
discount for paying in cash.
According to the formula, the price of
one square metre would be around 500 euros but it can vary depending on the
location, floor and building quality.
(Srna/Frontal)
