As at the end of 2009, there are close to 7,000 registered refugees from Croatia living in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), mostly in the Republika Srpska (RS) entity. Most of them are thought to have citizenship of BiH, but it has not been confirmed by the central authorities. They are in a situation of de facto displacement, in need of durable solutions and facing huge obstacles to return and access to rights in Croatia. There are still serious obstacles for refugees returning to Croatia, for instance in the areas of regulating civil status, repossession and/or reconstruction of property, housing care and con-validation of pension rights. The most problematic issue related to access to rights and durable solutions for refugees from Croatia is the search for a fair settlement mechanism for cancelled occupancy-tenancy rights (OTR).

In the meantime, UNHCR BiH continues to facilitate voluntary repatriation to Croatia, on a very limited scale. In 2009, UNHCR assisted over 620 people to return. However, it should be noted that most of those return to sort out the above mentioned issues, but do not stay in Croatia. Instead they come back to BiH until those matters are sorted out and then return with their families later.

At the same time, UNHCR BiH has begun supporting local integration at a small-scale level for the most vulnerable refugees from Croatia who cannot return, providing small-scale income generation support as well as occasional housing upgrades. Approximately 50 families benefited from such assistance in 2009. The donor for this project is the European Commission.

The majority of the recognized refugees in BiH are from Kosovo. Most were recognized prior to the handover of refugee status determination by UNHCR to the BiH government in 2004. The LMSAA does not provide for naturalization of refugees. However, there have been positive developments in the implementation of the rights of refugees to work, education, health care, social assistance and documentation including travel documents for refugees. There still remains the issue of facilitated family reunification residence. MHRR, with UNHCR and NGOs Vasa Prava BiH and the Bosnia and Herzegovina Women’s Initiative, have invested significant efforts to enable recognized refugees to access rights to education, health care, work and social welfare under the same conditions as BiH nationals.

However, there is still a need to develop a systematic integration strategy which would include permanent housing as well as other integration support to refugees.