engleski

Minority (Serb) Returnees to Croatia: Reintegration or New Immigration?

In this chapter, the authors question the international discourse of refugee repatriation which assumes that all refugees favour repatriation as the best durable solution. The authors identify key political, economic, socio-demographic, cultural and other changes in Croatia affecting the return of Serb refugees. Together with changes in the private lives of refugees during exile, changes in the context made the return not ‘the best durable option’ for the majority of them. From the socio-demographic perspective, the most significant change is the massive depopulation of war-torn regions and the significant change in the ethnic composition of the remaining population. From the political perspective, Croatia has been fully legitimized as a national state of Croats, while Serbs have to accept the minority status that was their main motive for rebellion. Changes in the political regime were accompanied by a reorganization of the institutional structure, making returnees 'institutionally illiterate'. The structure of the labour market changed completely and not a single pre-war job was left unchanged. The new political regime changed cultural symbols, names of streets, statues, national holidays, and language. All of these changes transformed the pre-war living environment, making the return of refugees look more like migration to an unfamiliar place.

return of refugees, durable solution, Croatia, socio-demographic changes, political changes, cultural changes

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