Refugees, Their Return and Rights
Throughout the period of armed conflicts hundreds of thousands of people became internally displaced or refugees abroad and approximately 300,000 Croatian Serbs left Croatia during the 1991-95 conflict. According to estimates of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, more than 200,000 Croatian refugees, mostly Croatian Serbs, are still displaced in neighbouring countries and beyond. Tens of thousands of Croatian Serbs could not return and many returns were not sustainable (due to political, but also economic reasons).
The Croatian authorities had pledged to return illegally occupied property by the end of June 2004 and other occupied property by the end of 2004, as part of their obligation to award reparations, including restitution of property, to Croatian Serbs displaced by the conflict. However, the repossession rate continues to remain slow.
Many Croatian Serbs, especially those who formerly lived in urban areas, could not return because they had lost their tenancy rights to socially owned apartments. Lengthy and in some cases unfair proceedings, particularly in lower level courts, continue to remain a major problem for returnees pursuing their rights in court. Moreover, Croatian Serbs continue to face discrimination in employment, property claims and access to other economic and social rights. As of 2006 conditions are improving, especially due to Croatia's bid for membership in the EU, but a significant percentage of Krajina Serbs still remain displaced in neighbouring countries, and the return to pre-war levels seems less likely.
The European Court of Human Rights in 2006 decided against Croatian Serb Kristina Blečić, stripped her of occupancy rights after leaving his house in 1991 in Zadar. On July 20, 2007 the OSCE released a report praising Croatia's cooperation and progress in legal reforms and refugee rehabilitation, specifically completion of most of the obligations regarding Serbian refugees, and fairnes in war crimes trials.
In 2009, the UN Human Rights Committee found a wartime termination of occupancy rights of a Serbian family to violate ICCPR. In 2010, the European Committee on Social Rights found the treatment of Serbs in Croatia in respect of housing to be discriminatory and too slow, thus in violation of Croatia's obligations under the European Social Charter.
Read more about this topic: Human Rights In Croatia
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