Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09SARAJEVO857
2009-07-15 12:13:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Sarajevo
Cable title:  

A Tale of Two Cities: the Sarajevo Fraud Prevention Unit

Tags:  KFRD CVIS CMGT CPAS ASEC BK 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8018
RR RUEHPOD
DE RUEHVJ #0857/01 1961213
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151213Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY SARAJEVO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0510
INFO RUEHPS/AMEMBASSY PRISTINA 0195
RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 0077
RUEHVB/AMEMBASSY ZAGREB 0629
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE 0004
RUEHLJ/AMEMBASSY LJUBLJANA 0123
RUEHSQ/AMEMBASSY SKOPJE 0309
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0197
RUEHVI/AMEMBASSY VIENNA 0341
RUEHPNH/NVC PORTSMOUTH 0037
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000857 

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/EX, CA/FPP, CA/VO, AND EUR/SCE (MIKE FOOKS); DEPT ALSO
PASS TO KCC; POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION MANAGERS; VIENNA FOR DHS
MARLA BELVEDERE

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KFRD CVIS CMGT CPAS ASEC BK

SUBJECT: A Tale of Two Cities: the Sarajevo Fraud Prevention Unit
visits Northern Bosnia

REF: Sarajevo 000592

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SARAJEVO 000857

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR CA/EX, CA/FPP, CA/VO, AND EUR/SCE (MIKE FOOKS); DEPT ALSO
PASS TO KCC; POSTS FOR FRAUD PREVENTION MANAGERS; VIENNA FOR DHS
MARLA BELVEDERE

E.O. 12958: N/A

TAGS: KFRD CVIS CMGT CPAS ASEC BK

SUBJECT: A Tale of Two Cities: the Sarajevo Fraud Prevention Unit
visits Northern Bosnia

REF: Sarajevo 000592


1. [Summary] The Sarajevo Consular Fraud Prevention Unit (FPU)
recently visited two adjacent towns in Northern Bosnia, Prijedor and
Sanski Most. We wanted to improve our understanding of a region
that experienced severe displacement during the war and to examine
the living conditions of our visa applicants that come from this
region. We discovered two cities struggling with the legacy of their
past, while trying to stimulate their depressed economies.
However, the local economy is strong enough that the FPU has come to
the overall conclusion that people from this region are good
candidates for U.S. visas. Further evidence for this conclusion
comes from the findings of a live validation study in which all visa
recipients we visited returned to BIH. Our FPU team also learned
more about how legal documents are issued, and we will be able to
better identify forgeries in the future. [End Summary]


2. Sarajevo FPU visited the very densely inhabited Sana river valley
in northwest Bosnia and held several meetings with the
representatives of the two largest towns on that river: Prijedor and
Sanski Most. FPU met with local politicians and religious leaders,
and visited the major private university in Prijedor. Finally, the
FPU conducted a small validation study of visa recipients from the
region, not only to determine how they used their visas, but also to
familiarize the FPU with the applicants' living conditions.


3. Prior to the war, there existed a near perfect ethnic balance in
both towns between Serbs and Bosniaks. This ethnic balance was
largely destroyed as a result of the 'ethnic cleansing' campaigns
carried out in this region. Today, Prijedor is majority Serb and is
located within the entity Republika Srpska, while smaller Sanski
Most is largely Muslim and lies within the Federation entity. The
residents of one city are often former residents of the other. The
cities were surprisingly similar despite the FPU's expectations to
the contrary (based on the fact that the cities are located on

either side of the RS/Federation border). Both must deal with the
legacy of the past, both have one major industry that employs a
large majority of the town, and both have a very high unemployment
rates with little chance for advancement. In both cases, FPU was
pleased to find the two towns made small but significant strides in
the form of digital municipal records. Despite their close
proximity and intertwined history there are some differences.
Prijedor is more self-sufficient, and the municipality building
beams with the glow of ample funds. Meanwhile, the Sanski Most
municipal government is located in a barely recognizable,
dilapidated building and serves a community increasingly dependent
on foreign aid.


4. Prijedor, in the Republika Srpska, is home to almost 120,000
residents and is one of the largest municipalities in Bosnia
Herzegovina (BiH). While in Prijedor, the FPU met with the Deputy
Mayor, the Chief of Administration and the municipal expert for
Military Records. According to municipal representatives, the
economic situation and the lack of jobs is the major problem the
municipality faces. The major investor is the international steel
corporation, ArcelorMittal. Municipal officials in Prijedor also
said that 20,000 ethnic Bosniaks have returned to their homes after
the war. However, a cursory look at a local phonebook of Prijedor,
as well as a survey of mailbox names in apartment buildings, showed
very few Bosniak names.


5. Sanski Most in the Federation contains 60,000 regular residents,
but the population increases by 50 percent in the summer months due
to the influx of large numbers of local workers abroad (often from
Germany). While the municipal officials claim to have met all
standards for returning property to displaced persons, there is
still the potential that a large number of Serbs may return to the
area. The FPU met with the Deputy Mayor and the Chief of
Administration. While the municipality in Prijedor appears to be
self-sufficient, with enough tax income and foreign investment to
fund many projects, Sanski Most seems to be more dependent on
foreign assistance. Two major projects in Sanski Most are funded by
international funds. The first is a state-of-the-art water
purification facility; the second is the construction of a small
local hospital. As the Republika Srpska and Federation entity line
falls between the two towns, with the hospital in Prijedor, the
citizens of Sanski Most do not have a health care facility that

SARAJEVO 00000857 002 OF 002


honors their health insurance, as health insurance is entity
specific. As a result, people from Sanski Most travel over 100 miles
to Bihac, the closest hospital in their own entity.


6. The municipality representatives in Sanski Most confirmed regular
contact with the Agency for Identification Documents, Data Registers
and Data Exchange (IDDEEA) regarding the new Bosnian biometric
passport. To date, the municipality has entered all of their vital
records into an electronic database. The municipality is part of a
U.S. sponsored project to digitize municipal records (GAP 2
project). All the birth, death and marriage certificates from five
municipal offices will be connected and accessible through a single
database. This project has made it easier for Sanski Most to join
the new biometric passport project, and the municipality has met all
mandated objectives in time for the testing period of biometric
passports begun this month. FPU is satisfied with the standard of
quality for breeder documents coming from Sanski Most(See Sarejevo
000592).


7. FPU also took the initiative to visit addresses of our former
visa candidates in order to verify the credibility of the
information they provided in their visa applications. Every visa
recipient returned to Bosnia.


8. FPU also visited the privately owned Janjos University in
Prijedor and talked with an administrator about the accreditation
problem in Bosnia that directly impacts student visa programs,
specifically summer work and travel visas. He said that he is still
skeptical of the new federal agency for accreditation, and for the
moment will continue to take his lead from the Republika Srpska
Ministry of Education. This was the first visit to explore this
issue and Post will be providing further findings on university
accreditation in the future.


9. The opportunity to compare two disparate communities living side
by side highlighted the reality that Bosnia's war still impacts
consular work as many of our applicants come from areas most
affected by the ethnic conflict. These were source areas for
refugees that resettled in the US and that now generate interest in
family members to travel to the US-some of whom have not seen each
other for more than 15 years. Understanding the background situation
of our applicants will undoubtedly contribute to post's ability to
improve officer assessment of our visa applicants.

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