On behalf of the principles of justice and peace, those who are responsible for the adoption of the final text of the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Permanent and Temporary Residence of Citizens, we wish to draw the attention of those most responsible to the potential consequences of their decisions and offer several elements for reflection upon this important issue.
The decision by the Government of the Republic of Croatia to send a bill to the Parliament on the Law on Amendments to the Law on the Permanent and Temporary Residence of Citizens has rightly stirred unrest among Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, because the adoption of the proposed bill could have far-reaching consequences on the further fate of the people who suffered greatly during the last war, were expelled from their homeland, and after the war mostly emigrated due to discrimination that still continues. This would lead to potential new instabilities throughout the region. Bearing in mind the importance of this legal act for the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as for all the citizens of the Republic of Croatia, our two commissions declare the following:

1. Acquired Rights. The commissions start from the fact that a large number of European countries recognize or tolerate the dual citizenship of their citizens. The commission emphasize that granting citizenship of the Republic of Croatia to citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina who have declared themselves as ethnic Croats during the past two decades belongs today to what are known as acquired rights. It does not make sense to call this fact into question or challenge it. Similarly, it neither makes sense nor would it be just to challenge their other acquired rights in the Republic of Croatia, particularly social and educational, albeit the financial burden for some of these rights and obligations should be shared with the institutions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and in this regard an agreement should be entered into with these institutions.

2. The New Exodus of Bosnian-Herzegovian Croats. That which is of primary importance in the current debates and the ensuing decisions on the legislative level, both Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovian, is that nothing should be done that could trigger a new exodus of Bosnian-Herzegovian Croats but, on the contrary, their return to their homeland, homes and the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina should be facilitated. The rights to a home and homeland – like the rights to freedom of existence and movement, coming and going – are among basic human rights. These rights should not only be recognized and guaranteed to the Bosnian-Herzegovian Croats of both countries by the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic of Croatia, but also by the international community. It is not difficult to see and agree that without the Croatian component, Bosnia and Herzegovina cannot survive, which means that it could again become, in a much more dangerous form, a focus of unrest and conflict of unpredictable proportions.

3. The Voting Rights of Croatian Citizens. The voting rights of Croatian citizens are connected with Croatian citizenship, which should not be challenged because this would challenge civil and democratic rights. Moreover, the commissions maintain that it would be desirable for Croatian citizens who do not have permanent residence in the Republic of Croatia to be represented in the Economic and Social Council of the Republic of Croatia, with the right to vote in all matters of material and moral interest to such citizens.

4. Discrimination against Croats. At the present social moment, the legislative solution proposed to the Croatian Parliament is seemingly objective and legally neutral but instead is in reality a biased and discriminatory law that does not treat ethnic groups equally and, in this case, disenfranchises ethnic Croats. It is little known and rarely mentioned that the “privilege” of double voting and other rights are enjoyed by citizens of the Republic of Croatia and approximately 100,000 refugees from Croatia who are ethnic Serbs. What would be fair is that no ethnic group should be either privileged or discriminated against.

5. The Legal Arrangements of Other European Nations on this Issue. Speaking about the “necessity” of such a legal solution, that the Croats who have dual citizenship should be denied dual residence and, thereby, other civil and social rights, the practices in the other nations of Europe, including Croatia, should be taken into account. For example, Italians who have dual citizenship are permitted to have legal residence in both Croatia and Italy. Hungarians have an even stronger bond with their nation such as, e.g., members of the Hungarian minority in Rumania. Thus, there are practices that are not contrary to the current solution. The Republic of Croatia has a constitutional obligation to help the Croatian nation in Bosnia and Herzegovina – where it is neither a national minority nor a diaspora but an autochthonous nation that has already lived there for 14 centuries – and to help it remain in Bosnia and Herzegovina and contribute to the development of this suffering but promising and in many aspects wealthy country. The amount of government aid that some Croatian citizens from Bosnia and Herzegovina are receiving from the Republic of Croatia would not reach the figure of 35 billion EU in 300 years, the estimated war damages that Croatia endured due to Serbian aggression, and we believe that the worthy Bosnian-Herzegovian Croats will soon be able to stand on their own feet and live from their labors, and not from the assistance of the Republic of Croatia. If the purpose of this law is to prevent the abuse of social rights, this can be achieved in another way, through a selective approach and dedicated work by the state bodies and services to thwart the unjustified use of welfare assistance and, thereby, not enter into decisions that would incur much more severe consequences. We know there is an economic crisis in the world and it is difficult for everyone. However, there are those in our vicinity who are needier than we, both in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as elsewhere in the world. Therefore, our commissions do not want to abolish the rights of ethnic Serbs, refugees from Croatia. Our commissions are firmly committed to the rights of all to return to their homelands and to become involved in their development and renewal, and thus does not want the Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina to be deprived of their acquired rights. We need development in love and truth. We need one another, as Pope Benedict XVI cautioned in his new social encyclical, Caritas in veritate.

6. To Coordinate the Legislation in the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina on the Issue of Residence. Our commissions are of the opinion that within the framework of the adaptation of the Constitutions of the Republics of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina with European integration, it is necessary to start an initiative for the Croatian Parliament and the Bosnian and Herzegovian Parliament to adopt coordinated laws on permanent and temporary residence which, in a reasonable manner and with the division of responsibility and proportional material costs, would guarantee the exercise of the rights of all citizens with dual citizenship and thus their rights to justified participation in political, economic and cultural life, in accordance with the best European democratic achievements. This certainly would not be an introduction to an anachronistic Balkan association but a minimum for a civilized attitude by all countries toward their citizens, whose identities were often defined by force. Therefore, quite the contrary, from the individual human non-expirable rights to a homeland, cultural identity and ownership, the legal prerequisites would be created for correcting the injustices inflicted upon the hundreds of thousands of Croats who, through persecution, exile or perfidious political and ideological media campaigns and discrimination in the past century, have been reduced from 24% of the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the year 1924 to nearly the status of a minority, and eradicated culturally and psychologically from their homeland of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
If the proposed Law on the Amendments to the Law on the Permanent and Temporary Residence of Citizens is adopted, it will not be possible to exclude a large wave of new immigrants to Croatia, which would occur not only due to discrimination but also due to the prospective accession of Croatia to the European Union. This new potential situation would incur great difficulties not only upon the unfortunate refugees but also upon the Republic of Croatia because social spending – that according to the suggestions of the media campaign is one of the main reasons for proposing such a restrictive law – would thereby only increase significantly, and this at a time of an economic and social crisis that has still not been overcome.
Our commissions, therefore, appeal to all the responsible politicians and national lawmakers in the Republic of Croatia to act responsibly and in accordance with the obligations arising from the European democratic standards and the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia in the process of making key decisions concerning Bosnian-Herzegovian Croats. Our commissions are of the opinion that there is no constitutional basis for requiring Croats with dual citizenship in the Republic of Croatia and the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina to choose, according to which they would have to relinquish either their rights guaranteed to them by the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina or the rights equally guaranteed to them by the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia.
We hope that the decision-making political elite in the Republic of Croatia will not support solutions that promote the migration, discrimination and further erosion of the human, political, civil and social rights of the Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
With respect and prayer for prudence and a vigilant sense of justice, we wish peace and blessing upon those who make decisions and those about whom the decisions are made.

In Zagreb, February 16, 2010
For the Justitia et Pax Commission of the Croatian Conference of Bishops:
Msgr. Vlado Košić, Ph.D., President
For the Justitia et Pax Commission of the Bosnian and Herzegovian Bishops’ Conference,
Msgr. Pero Sudar, Ph.D., President