A Shoulder to Cry On

It has been next to impossible to enter the office of the Belgrade Helsinki Committee over the past few months. After the exodus of the Serbs from Croatia, the refugees were coming to fill in the forms by which they requested to be enabled to return home or to get compensation for the lost property. This was more than a paradox - "the Serb traitors," as the Helsinki Committee was often called, were the only ones who offered this kind of help to Serb refugees. The forms, which have been filled in by over 20,000 people, contained also the "remarks" column which proved to be a precious source of statements and comments.

Over half of the people who filled in the forms (52 %) said they wished to return to Croatia immediately, without setting any conditions on their part. Another 35 % are willing to return under certain conditions. The conditions vary - some people expect just the guarantee that they would have the right to live or that they would have the basic human rights or a chance to live decent lives, while others would return if the "ustashi government" in Croatia changed. Only 13 % do not wish to return to Croatia ever and all they want is compensation for their property. A large number of statements from the first, most numerous group, are contrary to the theory that the Serbs "are rebels who never wanted to respect the Croatian authorities," that the Serbs "care only about a Serbian state" and that "the Serbs and Croats cannot live together ever again."

A refugee from Knin (aged 40) says: "I was born and lived in Knin. I went to school in Zagreb and Ljubljana. I worked for the Railway Transportation Company in Zagreb and I did not want any changes in that respect. All I want now is to return to my home-town, to Croatia as its loyal citizen which I always had been."

A refugee from Benkovac (aged 45) says: " I personally did not want this war and I am very unhappy because of it. Before the war, I lived happily and was not burdened by nationalism. This is why I wish to return to my home-town."

Most of the statements indicate the motives for return. Nostalgia and the sense of belonging to a region dominate, but there are financial reasons, as well. A refugee from Donji Lapac (aged 47) says: "I am treated very poorly here. I am being accused of not fighting for Krajina. They are terrible. Whatever you ask for - they are impudent and disgusting. I want to return to my Lika, to the rocks, even though my house may have been burnt down. I dream of my Lika. And now the people blame the Serb leadership for having pushed them into all this and for not having accepted autonomy. I am willing to respect the laws of the Republic of Croatia. The graves of my great-grandfathers and grandfathers and father and mother are there. That's why I dream of the rocks and of Lika."

A refugee from Krnjak (aged 39) said: "I was born there and I want to live there. That is where I belong."

There are touching statements made by children, such as the one made by a five-year-old boy from Srb: "I don't have my home, I have nowhere to play. This is very difficult for me," or by a thirteen-year-old girl from Vojnic: "I want to return as soon as possible, please." However, the oldest refugees feel more homesick than the others and they are the most resolute in their decisions to return - at all costs. This can be seen from the following statements: "I have been informed that my house was burnt down, but I want to go back in spite of it," (aged 70 form Vojnic); "I want to go back -TODAY," (aged 73 from Derengaj); "How could I go home to prepare wood for winter? I want to return right away. I cannot live here. If I had known, I would have stayed, even if I got killed." A refugee from Ervenik (aged 68) gives instructions: "Let Pero work in my vineyard and on my land until I return."

There are other motives, too. A refugee from Knin (aged 39) says: "I own a four-storey building in Knin with three five-room apartments - 450 square meters. I have a tire-repair shop on the ground floor, which is fully equipped and so are the apartments. I want to return home, to use my house and to pay taxes to the state."

The greatest obstacle for going back is fear. A refugee from Topusko (aged 48) says: "Since I left all my property, job and safety in Topusko, the life here is very difficult, impossible. I have no financial means, nor a job. However, when I think of going back, no matter how much I would like to, I feel great fear." Even those who had no reason to be afraid of Croatian authorities feel fear. A refugee from Ploce says: "I want to return and I fled not because I did anything to anyone, but because I was frightened, and who wouldn't be frightened in war-time?"

A special curiosity is the fact that a large number of refugees -as many as 43 % - criticise the way they are being treated in Serbia. The percentage would probably be even higher if the forms contained a question on it. Their criticism refers partly to the Serbian authorities and partly to the obnoxiousness of the people they have been in touch with.

A family from Knin are exasperated: "We are deprived of the right to work here, so we are unable to offer our children a decent life and education. My husband and I are dissidents here. There is no future for him, me and our children here. We want to return to the free, democratic Croatia and to our home. Another refugee from Knin (aged 58) says: "I don't feel attached to Serbia in any way, I have no rights here and I don't want to live here."

The Helsinki Committee for Human Rights was obviously one of the few places in Serbia where the refugees got a "shoulder to cry on."