FMR 50 - Property rights and reconstruction in the Bosnian return process

An introductory note on FMR 50, 'Dayton + 20: twenty years on from the Dayton Agreement in the Balkans', from the Editors. Twenty years on from the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in November 1995, the consequences of conflict – including the long-term effects of displacement – are still being felt in the Western Balkans. This issue of FMR focuses largely on the question of return. Some of those who were driven from their homes have been unable to return; others have returned but have struggled to rebuild their lives. The Agreement may have brought an end to war but its implementation has not yet put an end to human suffering and social crisis. As one of our authors says, “Twenty years on, the return project is ready for review.” This is an appropriate moment to examine the particular cases of people who were displaced from and within Bosnia and Herzegovina as a result of the 1992-95 war, and to reflect on the ‘lessons’ that may be drawn from the successes and failures of the Dayton Peace Agreement. These lessons have resonance for current crises – such as in Syria or Ukraine – and merit attention. This issue also includes a number of ‘general’ articles on other aspects of forced migration. We would like to thank Selma Porobic (Centre for Refugee and IDP Studies, University of Sarajevo) and Erin Mooney (United Nations Protection Capacity/ProCap) for their assistance as advisors on the feature theme of this issue. We are also grateful to Catholic Relief Services-USCCB, the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs and UNHCR’s Regional Bureau for Europe for their financial support. If you would like to request print copies of this Listing, or of the full version of FMR 50, please email us at [email protected]. Please help disseminate this issue by circulating to networks, mentioning it on Twitter and Facebook and adding it to resources lists.

The aim of creating ethnically homogeneous statelets was curbed at Dayton but the dominance of ethnic politics was not.

Annex 7 to the Dayton Peace Agreement was designed to address the displacement of 2.2 million people during the Bosnian war of 1992-95. Its job is not yet done.

Twenty years after Dayton, failures to facilitate effective refugee and IDP return have had a social and political impact at both community and state level.

The coming two-and-a-half years represent what is possibly the last window of opportunity to accomplish what the Dayton Peace Agreement’s Annex 7 set out to achieve.

Despite its shortcomings, the Regional Process in the Western Balkans offers a number of lessons for resolving protracted refugee situations.

“These people are as if lost in time and space.” Still displaced after 20 years, residents of collective centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina share their frustration. They need to be listened to.

Sidelining a rights-based approach in the area of property restitution and reconstruction in Bosnia and Herzegovina resulted in an unequal impact on rural versus urban displaced populations.

A social housing methodology recently introduced in Bosnia and Herzegovina illustrates the need for certain key components in any strategy to address the shelter and livelihoods needs of vulnerable citizens.

New research is attempting to address the lack of empirical grounding for much of the psychosocial programming in post-war trauma in the Western Balkans.