ABSTRACT
Following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the war in Bosnia
and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina (BiH), henceforth Bosnia) from 1992 to 1995
resulted in the displacement of large numbers of people in order to create ethnically
pure territories. Concomitant to the conflict, over half of the 4.4 million people of
Bosnia were displaced. While an estimated 1.3 million became internally displaced,
500,000 became refugees in neighboring countries, and another 700,000 in Western
Europe (MHRR, 2005a). The latest re-registration exercise initiated by the Ministry for
Human Rights and Refugees of Bosnia, the Ministry for Refugees and Displaced
Persons of Republika Srpska, and the Federal Ministry for Displaced Persons and
Refugees and Government of the District of Brcˇko that took place in 2005 reveals that
there are still 186,138 internally displaced peoples (IDPs) (59,892 households) who
have applied for Displaced Person (DP) status (MHRR, 2005a, pp. 81-119). A decade
after the General Framework Agreement for Peace, also known as the Dayton Accords,
enshrined the right of displaced populations to return to their homes of origin, this decrease
is considered a success.
