Factory People

According to the 1991 census, 22 percent of the 11,600 inhabitants in the Rudo municipality were Muslims. In the town of Rudo, which has a population of 3,000, the ratio was about 50:50, but Serbs have the power. When clashes broke out in Bosnia in April 1992, Muslims expressed their loyalty to the Serbs and even enlisted for the army. But as Rudo is on the very border with Serbia, it was necessary to protect the mother-country from the "disloyal ones." It was not difficult to accomplish, since Muslims used to make guns from water pipes "when Serbs had the weapons which broke down Berlin," said one soldier.

All the Muslims could do was flee. In order to cross the Serbian border they had to have a certificate from the local branch of the Serbian Democratic Party (SDS). And the price of each certificate was 100-150 German Marks. Whoever had the certificate and not more luggage than a bundle was seen off peacefully with best wishes. Those who did not have foreign currency became "extremists" who decided to walk to Gorazde - not all of them made it. By June 1992, Muslims were the past. They were allowed "to leave peacefully," according to the local authorities. Muslims' property became war trophies. Cars, tractors, stoves and bookcases were auctioned. Buyers came also from the neighbouring town of Priboj. The price, in most cases, reached about 10 percent of the value of each item. Of course, there were things that were auctioned "face to face."

Nowadays Rudo has a few more inhabitants than according to the last census. Refugees. Mostly from the Sarajevo municipalities. People aged 45 and above have been discharged. There are many people in the streets, in small groups. State services are working, wood-processing factory, schools and the army economy which is producing brandy - apple brandy, there have been no plums. The army and police are there. The mayor's monthly salary is 230 dinars, and a high-school teacher's 160 - in coupons. And the coupons are worth half their value in private shops - the only shops where you can actually buy something. The political situation is stable in the SDS manner. Not for long, they say. People are re-grouping in the direction of the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS), especially the ones who are holding offices.

The most acute problem is accommodation for refugees. Serbs from the Sarajevo municipalities of Vogosca and Stari Grad keep arriving. Some 400 families have arrived over the past month. Member of the refugee placement committee Gojko Topalovic, the elementary school headmaster, told us that the number of pupils in the school was one-third of what it used to be and that it was well equipped. "We were lucky," he said, "that our army did not pass through the school, so all the equipment has been spared." He showed us the gym, several classrooms ready to accept the Sarajevans - mattresses and blankets. These people will shortly afterwards move into the remaining empty Muslim houses, then the abandoned houses of Serb deserters, then the "Turkish houses" which some locals have already moved into...

Mayor Vojislav Topalovic confirmed his brother's words, but said all misunderstandings would be resolved legally. And the law says that the locals are not allowed to use the houses or apartments which belonged to Muslims. Although there are many citizens of the Sarajevo municipalities that need to be placed, industrial machinery was "placed" first. "Tas", "Unis," UTL (bed factory) and "Brest" (furniture factory) are already in Rudo. Parts of them are in Visegrad. "It was difficult to take all this out of Sarajevo," said the mayor and added that this was why they had chosen to accept the refugees from Vogosca. We asked him about the return of the refugees to their homes, as formatted in the Dayton agreement.

"There was a war, no one can guarantee safety. We have to wait because refugees are still coming and going through Sjeverin and they can't pass through it if Muslims are in it, someone may get fed up with it," explained the mayor. A difference between theory and practice again.