‘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
|