« Back to Provision

Internally Displaced Persons – 1996

The U.N. Secretary General informed the Security Council that the UNHCR had developed an operational plan to support the return of more than 2 million refugees and IDPs. The UNHCR plan was presented to the Humanitarian Issues Working Group of the Peace Implementation Council on 16 January and was strongly endorsed at a subsequent high-level working meeting in Oslo on 8 March 1996. It was estimated that 500,000 IDPs and 370,000 refugees would return in 1996. The report further suggested that more than 50,000 refugees and IDPs returned home in spontaneous and organized movements assisted by the UNHCR. However, those who returned were mostly refused “on grounds of lack of security guarantees or clear instructions from the leadership concerned” (United Nations, 1996). According to the report, “an independent Commission for Real Property Claims of Displaced Persons and Refugees was established on 20 March 1996 with its main base in Sarajevo. Its function is to receive and decide any claims for real property in Bosnia and Herzegovina where the property has not voluntarily been sold or otherwise transferred since 1 April 1992, and where the claimant does not enjoy possession of the property. The Commission consists of four members appointed by the Federation, two members appointed by the Republika Srpska and three members appointed by the European Court of Justice. Given the close link between repatriation and property, UNHCR will be associated with the work of the Commission.”¹ It was said that the successful return of refugees and IDPs would depend on sustained security provided by the partiesÕ massive physical and economic reconstruction, and mine clearing efforts in those areas where IDPs and refugees would return.

By the end of 1996, according to the U.N. Secretary General’s report, “some 250,000 refugees and displaced persons have returned to their homes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.” Most of the returnees returned to their homes where their community was in majority. The report further suggests that “Of an estimated 84,000 houses requiring repair, work has been completed on 24,000 so far. Other key community infrastructure activities, such as the repair of 100 schools, 50 clinics and hospitals, 60 water systems and 50 power systems, have been undertaken. It is estimated that up to 100,000 people, mainly displaced persons, will benefit from these activities.”²

An amnesty law was passed in both entities in 1996, but it had a fundamental flaw: it excluded persons who deserted or avoided military conscription. According to the U.N. Secretary General’s report, correction of this flaw was necessary.³

1. “Report of the Secretary-General Pursuant to Resolution 1035 (1995),” U.N. Security Council (S/1996/210), March 29, 1996.
2. “Report of the Secretary-General Pursuant to Resolution 1035 (1995),” U.N. Security Council (S/1996/1017), December 9, 1996.
3. “4th Report of the High Representative for Implementation of the Bosnian Peace Agreement to the Secretary-General of the United Nations,” Office of the High Representative (OHR), 1996, accessed May 2, 2011, http://www.ohr.int/other-doc/hr-reports/default.asp?content_id=3667.