And, in many cases when eviction orders became final, Croatian police refused to evict their co-nationals. Occupancy rights over apartments is a problem which currently affects some 20,000 people. The Croatian authorities applied the 1985 Housing Law under which occupancy rights were lost if a person did not live in his or her apartment for six months. In the case of refugees, however, the authorities disregarded the fact that many were unable to return to their homes because of the war. The apartments were then allocated to others who purchased them in accordance with the 1996 legislation on the privatization of housing in Croatia.
Many refugees have nothing to return to.
In some parts of Croatia not only houses but entire villages were destroyed. Furthermore, most refugees cannot hope to get back the jobs they held previously in Croatian companies, and cannot cultivate their land without the farm machinery which was stolen or confiscated from them. In some areas such as Skradin in Dalmatinski Gracac and Goricko village near Dvor na Uni, the local Croatian authorities have refused to return such machinery to repatriated refugees or pay compensation. The repatriation process is slowed down also by the failure of local authorities to apply laws and regulations in their jurisdiction. Thus, for instance, returnees to the Petrinja and Glina municipalities regulate their pensions within a period of three weeks while in Benkovac and Knin municipalities this takes several months.