People returning to their homes in Republika Srpska – an autonomous part of Bosnia and Herzegovina – are deprived of their land and have no protection from the state – warns the daily “Oslobodzienie”. The interlocutor of this newspaper called on the authorities of Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide legal assistance to thousands of people sharing his fate.
“Returnees face a huge problem of confiscation of private property that the Republika Srpska authorities register as their property. Huge private areas were misappropriated, and no central institution in Bosnia and Herzegovina protected the owners, even though they were deprived of their human rights and property in the most brutal way.” – noted “Oslobodzienie”.
The daily recalled the story of Salim Mustafić, who bought land to build a house in the 1980s. – Recently I went to the office and was informed that my plot of land had been appropriated. The lawyer said that everything would be fenced, forested and would become the main hunting ground of Republika Srpska, the man said, adding that he “will fight for his land.”
An appeal for help
A Bosnian citizen called the ministry in an interview with the daily human rights and refugees and the Ministry of Displaced Persons Bosnia and Herzegovina to provide legal assistance to thousands of people sharing his fate. – We, non-Serbs, are fifth-class citizens in this part of the country and that is why we need help, Mustafić noted.
Banja Luka – the capital of the autonomous Republika Srpska within Bosnia and HerzegovinaWikimedia Commons
The interlocutors of “Oslobodzień” drew attention to the passivity of the country's central institutions and the need for an independent legal fight against the institutions of Republika Srpska.
“These people believe that all this is being done so that Republika Srpska can apply for independence. The intentions have been clear for a long time, but the relations between the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the international community, which calmly observes the gross violations of human rights and institutional confiscation of property,” the daily emphasized.
Milorad Dodik, president of Republika Srpska, has repeatedly questioned the integrity and sense of existence of the country he represents. At the beginning of February 2023, he admitted in an interview with the Russian propaganda television Russia Today (now RT) that “he wants Republika Srpska to become an independent country.”
Main photo source: Wikimedia Commons