Humanitarian aid

During the war, ECHO (the European Community Humanitarian Office) was the only source of Community aid to the former Yugoslavia. Since 1992, ECHO has channelled ECU 1.5 billion to the countries of the former Yugoslavia, of which the largest part went to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The signature of the peace accords caused emergency humanitarian aid to reduce gradually in favour of operations designed to rehabilitate social infrastructures and housing.

ECHO humanitarian aid for the former Yugoslavia

1992: 276.9 million ECU

1993: 395 million ECU

1994: 269.3 million ECU

1995: 234.6 million ECU

1996: 187 million ECU

1997: 132.9 million ECU

Total: 1495.7 million ECU

Forecast for 1998: 81 million ECU

(of which 64 million ECU for BiH)

Reconstruction

During the first donors' conference in December 1995, the Commission announced ECU 1 billion of Community aid for the four years of reconstruction (1996-1999) not including humanitarian aid and support to the peace implementation and democratisation process. In 1996 and 1997, the Commission already allocated half of this amount.

To summarize:

1995: the year of the Dayton/Paris accords

• ECHO (humanitarian aid): ECU 150 million for Bosnia and Herzegovina
• CFSP: ECU 60 million for the reconstruction of Mostar, ECU 10 million for peace implementation (Office of the High Representative)
• Other actions in the field of democratisation

1996: consolidating peace providing essential aid

Since 1996, the main EC instruments for reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina are the Phare and Obnova programmes. Apart from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Obnova also covers reconstruction projects in Eastern Slavonia (Croatia).

Programme Commitments

Obnova 1996: 97.9 million ECU

Phare 1996: 141.2 million ECU

Other budget lines*: 65.4 million ECU

TOTAL 1996: 304.5 million ECU

1997: the year of reconstruction

Programme Commitments

Obnova 1997 :142.6 million ECU

Phare 1997 : 73. million ECU

Other budget lines* : 47.2 million ECU

TOTAL 1997 : 262.9 million ECU

1998: the refugee return

In order to streamline procedures, the Commission has for 1998 regrouped the main budget lines into "Reconstruction" programme (Obnova). The following priorities have been retained for the distribution of a global amount of 220 millions of ECU.

Areas Commitments

Support to institutions, notably those created by Dayton: 35.32 million ECU

Return of refugees and displaced: 106.75 million ECU

Education / Tempus: 1.5 million ECU

Agriculture and forestry: 28. million ECU

Microprojects for economic regeneration: 8. million ECU

Infrastructures: 17. million ECU

Administrative structures: 6.5 million ECU

CAFAO (customs) and return of refugees in Croatia: 17. million ECU

TOTAL 1998: 220.07 million ECU

* Other budget lines include: de-mining, CFSP (peace implementation, elections, reconstruction of Mostar), customs (EC CAFAO), assistance to torture victims, support for democracy and human rights, etc. ECHO's humanitarian aid is not included in the tables for 1996, 1997 and 1998.

Refugees & displaced persons: Key figures

• 75 percent of refugees (550,000 to 610,000) still abroad - and only 190,000 refugees have returned.
• 88 percent of refugees in only three host countries: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (40 percent of refugees), Germany (35 percent), and Croatia (13 percent).
• 85 percent of displaced persons (950,000) are still displaced - only 220,000 have returned.
• 93 percent of 1997 returns were to majority areas - and there were only 10,000 "minority returns" in 1997
• About 600,000 refugees are still abroad (with refugee status), of which 250,000 are Serbs (mostly in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), 250,000 are Bosniacs (mostly in Germany and other Western countries, such as Austria and Sweden) and 100,000 are Croats (mostly in Croatia). A large number of those currently in Germany are expected to be repatriated in 1998.
• Displaced persons still account for about a quarter of the population (29 percent in Republika Srpska, 22 percent in the Federation).
• In addition, there are about 40,000 refugees from Croatia in Republika Srpska (ethnic Serbs from Kordun, Lika and parts of Dalmatia, as well as Slavonia (former UNPA areas). Effective minority return in Republika Srpska is clearly linked to their return to Croatia, for both political and practical reasons.
• The trickle of minority returns did not increase in the first months of 1998, except to the Brcko Zone of Separation* (ZoS), where 315 more families had returned by 24 April.
• Elsewhere, according to UNHCR, there were a total of 673 minority returns in January and February 1998: 12 to Republika Srpska outside of the Zone of Separation (ZoS) and 661 to the Federation. 345 Serbs returned to the Federation, including 217 to Sarajevo and 100 to Drvar, 98 Bosniacs returned to Croat majority areas and 218 Croats returned to Bosniac majority areas.
• As a consequence, overwhelming ethnic majorities exist in most of Bosnia, with only a handful of areas containing minority populations greater than 10 percent (about 13 percent in the Tuzla and Sarajevo cantons).
• By the start of 1998, most of the estimated 612,000 remaining refugees and 816,000 internally displaced persons would be in the minority if they returned to their pre-war homes. As UNHCR pointed out in the summer of 1997: "Those persons who could easily identify solutions for themselves on return have already done so." Thus, whatever returns take place in 1998 will be either "minority returns" or relocations.

Source : RRTF, Return and Reconstruction Task Force International Crisis Group (ICG).