Sarejevo FPU talks to local grassroots leaders in Northwest

UNCLAS SARAJEVO 000963 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: Sarejevo FPU talks to local grassroots leaders in Northwest Bosnia REF: Sarajevo 000857 ¶1. [Summary] The Sarajevo Consular Fraud Prevention Unit(FPU) recently visited two adjacent towns in northern Bosnia, Prijedor and Sanski Most. FPU was interested in contacting the relevant representatives of ethnic minorities to better understand our visa applicants and their migration patterns. We learned that few minorities that have left, have returned, and that these communities face demographic and economic issues that complicate their ability to survive. (End Summary). ¶2. In Prijedor, a town that is now predominantly ethnic Serb, our FPU met with a young Serbian Orthodox priest. The Orthodox priest covers several villages in the Sanski Most municipality, located in the Federation. The priest explained that only three of 25 Orthodox churches in the Sanski Most area survived the war. All other Orthodox churches were burned down and destroyed. The priest said only 420 families remain in the villages he tends. This is substantial decline from pre-war numbers, as there were ten times more worshippers in 1991. Only 30 of the remaining Serb families are young couples, and most of the others are elderly people. There are only 10 children among the 420 families, reflecting the new reality that the majority of couples with children have moved to Republika Srpska. ¶3. Most funding for the church comes from the displaced Serbs, and not from the congregation members themselves. Therefore, although donors moved to areas like Banja Luka, northern Serbia or Germany, they still invest in rebuilding the churches in their home town. The municipality of Sanski Most recently donated 10,000KM to the local Orthodox church. Due to the weak municipal budget the church cannot expect more. ¶4. Officials in both municipalities we met with claimed to have met all standards and quotas for assisting in the return of property to pre-war owners. However, despite the official estimation that 7,000 of 30,000 Serb residents have returned to their homes in Sanski Most, the priest was very skeptical about these figures. He explained that some people expressed their wish to return only on paper, in order for their devastated homes to be repaired by state or international funds. However, once their homes were repaired, many of them chose not to return. Rather, they sell their old family property to local Bosniaks. The priest stressed that safety is not an issue any more. Rather, the economic situation and lack of jobs is often behind people's decision to leave. ¶5. While the Orthodox priest told the story of displaced Serbs reluctantly returning to their homes in a now Bosniak-majority area, we also heard from Bosniaks in the Prijedor area. One Bosniak we spoke to holds a high-level position in the Prijedor municipality. Another is a returnee to an outlying village, who started a local political party to address returnee concerns. The village is Kozarac, informally known as the "Srebrenica of the West." Kozarac was the site where experts believe 4,412 Bosniaks were killed or missing in 1992. FPU met with the president of a newly-formed local political party to discuss the issue of Bosniak returnees to the Prijedor region. While Kozarac has a high returnee rate, Prijedor proper is struggling to keep its Bosniak returnee population. The Bosniak municipal official we spoke to is a prime example: originally from Prijedor, working in Prijedor, but choosing to live in Sanski Most and commuting to work. ¶6. Our discussions with these two communities outline the story of ethnic displacement and the ongoing attempts to resettle. Many of the displaced persons went to the EU and US. While these individuals remain attached enough to their homeland to send money and to rebuild mosques and churches, few are willing to return permanently. Many displaced persons who found their way to the United States generate consular work as they are the invitees of a large number of Sarajevo's visa applicants. Firsthand knowledge of the living conditions and issues faced by these minority groups will undoubtedly impact officers' decision making when interviewing applicants from this region. English