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‘Protracted Displacement' launch event in Sarajevo On Thursday 12 November, UNHCR and Forced Migration Review (FMR) will be holding a special event in Sarajevo to launch the latest issue of the FMR magazine on the subject of ‘protracted displacement’. The guest of honour at the launch will be Mr. Walter Kälin, the Representative of the UN Secretary General on the Human Rights of Displaced Persons. Bosnia’s Minister for Human Rights and Refugees, Safet Halilovic', will also be speaking at the launch, which will be attended by the entity and cantonal ministers for displaced persons and refugees, as well as representatives from civil society and the international community. Approximately half of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina was forced into displacement during the 1992-1995 war. Today, 117,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) remain in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including some 7,500 people residing in temporary collective accommodation, often in appalling conditions. FMR issue 33 includes a major feature on protracted displacement, including case studies on Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia. At the event, UNHCR will also launch its brochure on displacement in the Western Balkans, where over 300,000 persons remain displaced in the region 14 years after the end of the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina and 10 years after the end of the Kosovo conflict. "This is not the same as normal life. Everything is very difficult. You lose your house, you lose your property, the children grow up and leave you – it’s awful.” Vinka Kolundzija, a Croatian Serb who became a refugee in Serbia 13 years ago. “I don’t think about our future anymore. Anything I planned in life is impossible. I feel trapped – there is no way out in this situation.” Miljo Miljic, a Bosnian refugee living in Ripanj, Serbia. Their plight has faded from international attention but UNHCR hopes that the launch event will reinvigorate domestic efforts to end displacement in the region. "Fourteen years after the war’s end, renewed national and international efforts are needed to complete the work of securing durable solutions for IDPs." From ‘Unfinished business: IDPs in Bosnia and Herzogovina’ by Naveed Hussain (UNHCR representative in BiH) and Erin Mooney, published in FMR 33 http://www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR33/22-24.pdf The launch event, to be followed by a reception, will take place at 17:30 in Hotel Europe, central Sarajevo, on Thursday 12 November. Forced Migration Review is published in English, French, Spanish and Arabic by the Refugee Studies Centre of the University of Oxford and has gained an international reputation as the most widely read publication on refugees and IDPs. UNHCR has contributed funding towards this special issue focusing on protracted displacement. Background documents: Forced Migration Review issue 33 http://www.fmreview.org/protracted.htm UNHCR brochure on Western Balkans http://www.unhcr.ba/press/UNHCR_IDP%20WBalkans.pdf For more information please contact: Aida Prljaca, UNHCR Sarajevo [log in to unmask] Tel: +387 290 309 Or: Marion Couldrey, FMR Oxford [log in to unmask] Tel: +44 (0)1865 281700 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Note: The material contained in this communication comes to you from the Forced Migration Discussion List which is moderated by Forced Migration Online, Refugee Studies Centre (RSC), Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford. It does not necessarily reflect the views of the RSC or the University. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this message please retain this disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. List Archives: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/forced-migration.html Subscribe/unsubscribe: http://tinyurl.com/fmlist-join-leave RSS: https://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?RSS&L=forced-migration Follow the FM List and more on Twitter: http://twitter.com/forcedmigration