Interlude

This interlude presents the sites, methods, and social settings of the author's fieldwork in northwestern Bosnia. The municipalities of Prijedor in the Republika Srpska and Sanski Most in the Muslim-Croat Federation were an ideal place to investigate intervention encounters because of the intensity of the refugee-return process there. The international community paid special attention to Prijedor because it had been iconic of the tactics of “ethnic cleansing” ever since the summer of 1992. The violence in the camps was accompanied by systematic efforts throughout the region to eliminate the physical evidence of the presence and culture of its substantial non-Serb population. It is for this reason that foreigners were initially bewildered by the desire of tens of thousands of Muslim refugees from Prijedor to return to their prewar homes. Though the institutions of the international community were reluctant to do what it would take to make such “minority return” successful, this did not stop those who wanted to return home. Across these sites of encounter, the author explored the discursive and institutional practices through which foreigners came to understand Bosnian society and politics, as well as their roles in Bosnia.

Coffee after cleansing?

This article critically addresses the idea that ethnic remixing alone fosters reconciliation and tolerance after sectarian conflict, a vision that has been forcefully cultivated by international interventionists in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina. Based on ethnographic fieldwork in the town of Banja Luka, it presents a multi-faceted analysis of the effects of ethnic minority return on the (re)building of social relations across communal boundaries. Although returnees were primarily elderly Bosniacs who settled in parts of the town traditionally populated by their own ethnic group, some level of inter-ethnic co-existence and co-operation had developed between the returnees and displaced Serbs who had moved into these neighborhoods. In the absence of national reconciliation, peaceful co-existence in local everyday life was brought about by silencing sensitive political and moral questions related to the war, indicating a preparedness among parts of the population to once again share a social space with the Other.

Successful returns of Bosnian refugees to their homes: statistics versus reality

The contemporary ethnic and demographic situation remains essentially affected by the process of the so-called forced migration caused by the war conflict in the 1990’s. The aim of this study is to analyse interpretation of success rate of Bosnian refugees repatriation on the basis of an analysis of component statistical materials issued by international organizations and local authorities and its comparison with the reality using in-field investigation. This method (comparing of statistic data and reality) can help as the only possible way (because of absence of any statistical census – the last one was carried out in 1991 before the disintegration of the Yugoslavia Federation) to give more general characteristics of the current ethno-demographic situation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and to evaluate the rate of the so-called minority return.

Interview with Andrew Bearpark

Andrew Bearpark is the Director General of the British Association of Private Security Companies (BAPSC), an independent trade association representing the leading companies in the specialist private security and risk management sector in the United Kingdom. The association aims to raise the standards of its members and the emergent industry as a whole and ensure compliance with the rules and principles of international humanitarian law and human rights. Prior to taking up his position, Mr. Bearpark served as Director of Operations and Infrastructure for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. From 1998 to 2003, he was Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General in charge of the European Union Pillar of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and was previously Deputy High Representative based in Sarajevo and responsible for the Reconstruction and Return Task Force, a grouping of international organizations facilitating minority return in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Before taking up his positions in Bosnia and Kosovo, Mr. Bearpark held a series of senior positions in the UK, such as Head of the Information and Emergency Aid Departments of the Overseas Development Administration (ODA) and Private Secretary to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Homes of Origin: Return and Property Rights in Post-Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina

This paper explores the post-Dayton property regime in Bosnia, as one tool for facilitating return of displaced persons and refugees. Implementation of post-Dayton property laws, intended to facilitate return, is explored, and few successes are found. Reformed property laws—subject of much attention and chief drain on resources of the international community—remain a legal framework on paper only, and have not delivered minority return. In conclusion, the international community must expand its focus beyond minority return, to the broader concept of “durable solutions.” Acknowledging that some displaced persons will not wish to return to their home of origin, the international community should engage in parallel efforts to provide solutions to those who genuinely wish to relocate.