In the village of Cavas, Ravno municipality, live Velimir Mijatovic and his wife. They are returrnees.

Their partially destroyed house has no electricity or running water and they survive on what they can grow in their small land plot. The village of Cavas is only a few hundred metres from the entity boundary and the RS, where the line of electricity pylons ends. To electrify the village from the Federation side requires 10 kilometres of polls and cable which the authorities have so far been unwilling to provide. Cavas sits in a very fertile Herzegovina valley, and when provided with basic amenities such as water and electricity, the agricultural opportunities could allow the village to prosper again, encouraging further return to the area.

The case of Cavas village and the Mijatovics show how returnees and displaced persons are often caught in a bureaucratic and administrative limbo, a situation which prolongs and exacerbates the poor conditions in which they live. It is therefore imperative that these administrative gaps which the displaced fall through are addressed, ensuring that all the displaced may find durable solutions.