Establishing property rights: a first step towards regaining possession of one's home and land

Property rights issues are one of the pivotal problems hanging over the refugee and displaced persons return process in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Commission for Real Property Claims (CRPC), which is mainly funded by the European Commission, was set up under Annex 7 of the Dayton Peace Agreements to help people regain the property they lost during the war. As such it is the key decision-making body on property issues affecting dispossessed people in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

To date the CRPC has received 125,000 claims relating to property in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Appointments to file a claim with the CRPC are booked up until August 1999. Over 29,000 decisions have been made and the same number of certificates issued. These certificates can facilitate efforts by dispossessed people to return to their pre-war homes, or to seek to obtain value for their lost property through other means.

"Of the 125,000 claims received, approximately half of the people want to return as soon as possible" says Steven Seagal, Executive Officer of the CRPC."The other half wants to hold on and see in order to exchange or sell its property".

The December 1998 Madrid Peace Implementation Council stressed that the effective use of property rights and the practical enforcement of CRPC decisions must improve. The main problem is that the certificate issued by the CRPC is not at the moment widely known and recognised as a legally-binding document.

"This year, we will monitor more closely what the people do with their certificate, in order to have more clear data on returns, sales and exchanges" says Steven Segal. "It is also important to do the follow-up when people receive their certificate, and to advise people on how to use this document. We plan to set up an information campaign on this topic".

CRPC's support to the EC return programme

As part of its special projects work, the CRPC has been helping organisations involved in house reconstruction in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The European Commission has insisted that the property rights of all beneficiaries of EC-funded return projects be verified by CRPC. The verifications carried out by the CRPC allow NGOs or other reconstruction agencies to ensure that housing units are being repaired for the benefit of the original owners or occupants, and that the projects are proceeding on a sound legal basis.

By issuing final and binding legal decisions on a case by case basis, the CRPC aims to develop the property law system in BiH by collecting a basis for reliable property records, many of which were lost or destroyed between 1992 and 1995. In the future, the CRPC certificates may also be used by individuals as security for housing and reconstruction loans.

CRPC HEADQUARTERS
Danijela Ozme, 4
71000 Sarajevo
Bosnia and Herzegovina
+387 71 211-151

REGIONAL OFFICES

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Banja Luka
+381-78-247 718

Lukavica
+381-71-672 008

Mostar
+387-88-322 553

Sarajevo
+387-71-615 808

Tuzla
+387-75-239 560

Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Herceg Novi, Montenegro
+381-82-31 017

Podgorica, Montenegro
+381-81-622 380

Beograd, Srbija
+381-11-636 348

Novi Sad, Srbija
+381-21-20 922

Germany

Berlin
Friedrich-Krause-Ufer 24 LASoz Gabaeude, Zimmer 284/286
+49-30-90158 - 727 and
+49-30-90158 - 728

Norway
Oslo
NRC, Grensen 17, 0130
+800-41 042

Return to Croatia

Setting the ball rolling

It is difficult to work on the return of refugees and displaced people in Bosnia and Herzegovina without adopting a regional approach to the problem. This is why the EU is currently working in Croatia to encourage refugees and displaced persons to make their way home. Many Croatian Serb refugees are still in Republika Srpska, hindering return of Bosnian Croats and Bosniaks there because they occupy their homes.

In a bid to tackle this problem, the EU has set up the European Union Reconstruction Programme for Return (EUPOP) in Croatia - a scheme that is being coordinated by the Office of the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (ASB).

EUPOP activities are concentrated in towns and villages in Eastern Slavonia (Ernestinovo, Lovas, Vukovar and Stari Jankovci), Western Slavonia (Dragalic, Lipik, Pakrac) and former sector north and south (Petrinja, Gracac, Donji Lapac).

In Western Slavonia for example, the war caused an enormous amount of devastation. The majority of refugees hoping to return to this region are of Serb origin and are currently located in Bosnia and Herzegovina (RS) and FRY. Their plight is compounded by the fact that the Croatian government does not consider them to be a priority when it comes to allocating funds to finance reconstruction efforts. The main obstacle currently hindering the sustainable return process to this region is the unsatisfactory housing situation.

After the ASB has identified families that are willing to return, it organises information meetings designed to help guide potential returnees through the bureaucratic maze of administrative procedures that the Croatian government will oblige them to battle their way through. After that, the next phase in the return process is the rebuilding of refugees' houses. In many cases dwellings have to be de-mined before people can begin living in them once more.

EUPOP is also working to help re-establish public and social infrastructure in Croatia so that the country will be able to cope with returning refugees and so that local communities will not be overly hostile to the new arrivals.

For more information:
ASB/EC
+385 1 2883 141
e-mail: ecasbmo@zg.tel.hr