Banja Luka, January 29, 2001 (IKA/TABB) — The bishop of Banja Luka, Msgr. Franjo Komarica, sent an open letter to the president of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Mesić, in which he requested aid to the refugees from the Banja Luka Diocese. Bishop Komarica also sent copies of this letter to the president of the Croatian Parliament, Zlatko Tomčić; the prime minister of the government of the Republic of Croatia, Ivica Račan; and the Croatian minister of foreign affairs, Tonino Picula.
Bishop Komarica, noting that eleven months have passed since he spoke to President Mesić “for the first and last time” regarding aid to the refugees from the Banja Luka region, reminded the president that nearly nothing has resulted from the solemn and public promises made. “The agreement between the minister of foreign affairs, Mr. Picula, and the former prime minister of the Serb Republic, Mr. Dodik, on allowing the return of 2,000 Croats within a three-month period — March, April and May — according to official information from a representative of the international community, has been implemented in a such manner that not more than 10% of this number have been allowed to return! Why? Who takes responsibility for this? Up to now, during the past five years, of the over 70,000 displaced and refugee Croats from the Banja Luka region, only 658 families or 1,322 persons have returned! Of the over 200,000 displaced and refugee Croats from the region of Bosanska Posavina and northwest Bosnia (the territory of the entity of the Serb Republic), during this same period only 2,500 have returned! Can today’s politicians absolve themselves from this crime of cementing lawlessness and injustice?” asked Bishop Komarica. He also reminded President Mesić that the Croatian government has still not donated any of the funds promised for the repair of houses and aid to the returnees in this region, while planned aid has been cut in half for the current year.
The bishop then cited facts regarding his own diocesan branch of Caritas, which has used funds obtained from foreign countries for the repair of 900 houses in the entity of the Serb Republic and another 1,200 in the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, and has purchased and distributed hundreds of head of cattle, tons of seed, firewood, agricultural machinery, furniture for returnees and granted over a hundred loans to small businessmen among the returnees. Moreover, Caritas supports 85 workers and their families, regularly distributes food to the 2,400 most endangered persons, provides medical assistance to over 120,000 persons, and has submitted applications on behalf of 3,100 families for the return of their property. “Many from other countries have reacted positively to our appeals. Only those from Croatia have not. Why is this so?” Bishop Komarica asked President Mesić, pointing out that during the war the Catholics from Banja Luka avoided conflicts and have made particular efforts to promote co-existence and forgiveness. Therefore, he asked the Croatian president to act more decisively in order to remove the existing barriers from the government administration “which stand in the way of the implementation of your state and political decisions,” and to support increased government funding “for the return and sustenance of the displaced and refugee Croats from Bosnia-Herzegovina, especially the entity of the Serb Republic.” Bishop Komarica invited the president of the Republic of Croatia to attend a continuation of a round-table discussion on the return to the Banja Luka region and Bosanska Posavina, to be held in Banja Luka on January 30.