From: wam@zamir-zg.comlink.de (Wam Kat)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Subject: Zagreb Diary
Date: 21 Aug 92 13:20:00 GMT
Organization: ComLink-Network Germany - For Peace Zagreb


Zagreb Diary
18-08-1992

Dobar Dan,

It was early when the phone rang again, "Wam, there ?", "Yes, 
I am on the telephone", "Here is New York, wait". Then I 
heard the voice of Ivo Soric explaining the cooperation 
between Eagleburger, Vance and Carringthon and that at 6 
o'clock in the morning, just wake up. That was about the last 
thing I expected. No I don't know anything about all those 
links, don't have the time to find out about it.

And then the programme started, somebody in Beograd, Milena, 
just 500 meters away from here, me and at least 15 people in 
the studio in new York. The sun get's up behind the kastanje 
tree outside Vesna's house and I am sweating like hell. Never 
did a telephone discussion over the ocean before, what to 
say. 

When Milena and I met each other 2 hours and sweating later 
in Milena house, after hearing each others phone and long and 
detailed call up for military intervention and lifting of the 
arms embargo (a soldier from Sarajevo told me the other day, 
getting weapons is not the point, we get them from all sides 
and the are pilling up at the distribution points outside 
BiH, the transportation to Sarajevo and the rest of the 
country is the difficulty), we agreed never to go for such a 
show again. 

It is more than impossible to formulate your thoughts well if 
you are just looking at an empty room, half a hour awake and 
confronted with well prepared people discussing in a New York 
studio, which you only hear through the sound of waterfall or 
something like that. 

When I arrived some hours later at the hotel where that 
French European Parliament delegation was staying I was 
already more than tired. I lost a lot of energy during that 
talk.

From the Hotel we went to the Ministry of Family and Social 
Work, where we had an appointment with the head of the 
department of refugees. The guy, a former teacher of 
Anthropology, was also obvious tired when we came in and I 
thought immediately that the talk would be over soon. When I 
ask him to tell us a general stories about the refugees 
problem, he lifted his arm to heaven and say something like 
"Where to start, what to say, there are a thousand unsolved 
problems." Shit I went to my mind, this 20.000 refugees, 
which UNHCR refused to take away.

But just a second later he started a monologue which latest 
for over 1 and half hour, we couldn't ask one question, but 
he answer all our burning questions. Normally adults get 18 
kilos of food per month, we get only 8 kilos together to feed 
them. Yes EC wants to help us with food, but it will take 
some 6 weeks more before we solve the small distribution 
problems and find the cooling wagons and places to receive 

it.

Yes, the unpaid bill for Hotels and transport companies, who 
transported aid from broad to Croatia haven't been paid for 
months. Most of the transport companies refuse to drive for 
the ministry, so aid which is not delivered at the spot stays 
where it is given. Hotels want to expel the refugees, you 
make more money with tourist and the ministry is not paying 
anyway. 

He comes up with an analyses , which I never heard before, 
but soon will start to live an own life, since it is 
characteristic for the situation. "Serbian finally found the 
weapon to destroy us, they tried bombs, tanks, shelling, but 
we fought back" he teaches us, "But now the sending refugees 
in such numbers that it will finally destroy it".  "But we 
will survive, we only can survive."

When he is finally at the end of his monologue I ask him what 
will happen with the people in camps when the winter comes. 
He replies with the question 'what will happen when the 
schools have to start and all the refugees which are hosted 
for the time being all over the country in schools have to be 
replace and follows that German promised to build 5 camps for 
5000 each, and so has Denmark. They will be finished in 3 
months they have promised him, but if that is in time for the 
winter, he and I wave our hands. There is not much hope in 
his face. He heard it all and saw so little. We caught him in 
a burn-out situation.

Just before we want to go, he smiles and says that he wrote a 
poem in French, he looks in his drawer, but can't find it. He 
tells about the days that he was in Paris discussing with 
Mitterrand about French aid, but Mitterrand told him only 
that Croatia has to got ride of HOS. When he reacted than by 
asking what is with Le Pen, Mitterrand reflected with "That 
is democracy". 

When he shows us out of his small office, full with 
unreadable faxes and people running in and out with messages 
that more people are waiting, both outside his office as well 
as on the border, he says to the French EP members, "The 
other questions you must ask Wam, he is here for 4 and a half 
month, he knows what has happened, he is our ambassador".

Our poor French guest are thrown into deep water, that I can 
see immediately, the expected a lot but this totally went 
over the hill. You not often meet with high officials who are 
close to crack down. It a couple of days they will go to 
Gasinci and see what is the next step, there the leader of 
the refugee camps already is totally over the hill, he don't 
give a damned anymore for his refugees (I was been told by 
people coming back from our workcamp there). He does only 
what he is expected to do and for the rest.....

I cancel our meeting with UNHCR and we have a coffee and walk 
back to the Biologic Dynamic restaurant, which will take over 
the French for the rest of the day, poor them, the afternoon 
will not be very easy for them, they still have to go to the 

Islamic Center as well.

Later that we went for a dinner in a nice cheap outdoor 
restaurant, were we totally co incidental meet with Doctor 
without Borders, who have a meeting there with observers from 
UNHCR. They are planning a visit to UNPA land, Vukovar and 
surroundings to make an estimation of the needs there. It is 
a mad city Zagreb, the war is there, but you only hear the 
stories.

With Love from ZA-mir-GREB,

Wam:-)