Housing is a key issue in facilitating refugee return.
The Dayton peace agreement required both entities to repeal discriminatory wartime legislation, including laws relating to property. Despite the efforts of the Office of the High Representative, the parties have not complied. To date, only about 1,100 cases of the over 25,000 claims received have been decided. Donor governments, along with the new High Representative, Carlos Westendorp, should support only the most effective international mechanisms to ensure the genuine rehabilitation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Questions of property rights, including tenancy, are at the root of many ethnic disputes in Bosnia and Herzegovina.