From: pnmideast@igc.org
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia
Subject: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: European Commun
Date: 20 Jul 92 05:28:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1475300280:000:4595
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!pnmideast    Jul 19 22:28:00 1992


From: <pnmideast>
Subject: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: European Commun

/* Written 10:03 am  Jul 18, 1992 by hrcoord in cdp:refugees */
/* ---------- "BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: European Commun" ---------- */
From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: European Commun

/* Written 12:07 am  Jul 18, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Title: BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: European Community faces refugee crisis


an inter press service feature

by lucy johnson

london, jul 15 (ips) -- as attempts to bring together the three
warring bosnian communities for talks in london ended in deadlock
wednesday, the mounting refugee problems caused by the crisis have
brought european community (ec) border policy into question.

after meeting ec mediator lord peter carrington, bosnian muslim
leader haris silajdzic refused to join talks with serbs saying;
''i will not sit with a child killer''.

bosnian serb leader radovan karadzic spoke separately with lord
carrington, and accepted the principle of opening up land
corridors to let through humanitarian aid. but observers believe
such a plan will do little to ease the refugee situation.

the neighbouring former republics of yugoslavia are straining
to house the thousands of refugees fleeing bosnia-herzegovina,
whilst border controls in many ec countries remain rigid, despite
the worsening of the conflict, which has killed at least 7,500.

most are fleeing the troops from all sides that are clearing
contested areas by terrorising 'enemy' communities with brutal
atrocities against civilians -- a technique known as ''ethnic
cleansing''.

''the numbers are growing hourly,'' said a spokeswoman for the
united nations high commission for refugees (unhcr) in london.
''10-20,000 refugees are taking to the road every week.''

the problem now is where to house these refugees. croatia,
which has so far taken in nearly 580,000 refugees said on monday
that it was on the verge of collapse. it said that it could no
longer accept refugees and though it would not close its borders
with bosnia-herzegovina, it would transport new arrivals directly
to the borders with its northern neighbours.

britain, present holder of the rotating six-month presidency of
the ec, has sent its foreign secretary douglas hurd on a four-day
trip to the former yugoslav republics.

however, britain's border controls are notoriously strict and
observers fear that this will influence its directive to the ec.
at present asylum seekers into most countries in western europe
are faced with a wall of paperwork.

''these are war refugees not economic migrants,'' the unhcr
spokeswoman said. ''we need to offer them a safe haven until they
can return to their homes.'' (more/ips)

bosnia-herzegovina: european community faces refugee crisis(2-e)

bosnia-herzegovina: european community (2)

the un high commissioner for refugees, sadaka ogata, will meet
british prime minister john major for emergency talks on the
crisis, though british overseas aid minister baroness lynda
chalker has said that britain wanted to be convinced about the
best way of dealing with this crisis.

observers are sceptical. former official representative of the
republic of slovenia keith miles doubted that the ec would open up
its borders to war refugees.

''the ec lacks a concerted foreign policy,'' he said. ''it is a
patchwork of attitudes towards refugees.'' refugees from the 1956
hungarian uprising were dealt with promptly, he noted. ''we could
do it then, why can't we do it now?''

immigration matters are dealt with by a separate pillar of the
ec, distinct from the ec's executive european commission -- an
administrative exception that britain insisted on during last
year's maastricht summit on ec union -- which makes an overall
policy harder to implement from brussels.

countries traditionally open to eastern european refugees have
borne most of the burden outside former yugoslavia; germany has an
estimated 200,000, switzerland and sweden about 40,000 each.

austria is accomodating about 50,000 refugees. although it has
introduced visa requirements for people coming in from yugoslavia --
now cosnsiting of just serbia and montenegro -- it has not applied
them to bosnians.

the unhcr reports that more than 2.2 million have fled their
homes in the country. of these, 1.7 million are seeking shelter
within former yugoslavia and 500,000 are distributed around other
european countries (ends/ips/np/lj/rj/92)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.yugoslavia