Military

DATE=12/24/2002

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= BOSNIA AID (LONG ONLY)

NUMBER=2-297765

BYLINE= LISA SCHLEIN

DATELINE= GENEVA

CONTENT=

INTRO: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies says it fears many refugees who have returned to Bosnia-Herzegovina may leave again because the international community is not giving them the support they need. Lisa Schlein in Geneva reports the lack of humanitarian assistance threatens to undermine the return process.

TEXT: The International Red Cross says Bosnian returnees are suffering from neglect and, in many ways, are forgotten people.

Since the Dayton (Bosnia) peace agreement was signed in 1995, more than 900-thousand refugees have returned home. That is more than 40 percent of those who fled the war. International Red Cross Spokesman, Denis McClean says these people are receiving very little international assistance.

///McCLEAN ACT///

It is a very serious problem because the people we are targeting are minority returneeselderly people and people with no fixed income. They have been away from home for several years in some cases and now they are going back to a situation where you have unemployment rates of 40 percent and where as many as 20 percent of the households are living below the poverty line. So, there is not much social infrastructure in place to support them.

///END ACT///

The Red Cross is appealing for 670-thousand U-S dollars to provide assistance to 30-thousand returnees during the harsh winter months. They will receive firewood, stoves, hygiene articles, food parcels and other relief supplies.

Mr. McClean of the International Red Cross says the beneficiaries are among the most vulnerable of the returnees. They represent all ethnic groups -- Muslims, Croats and Serbs -- but most of them live in communities where they are ethnic minorities. He says it is important not to alienate the local people while helping the returnees.

Therefore, the spokesman says the Red Cross provides assistance to the communities as well as to the refugees who have returned.

///2ND McCLEAN ACT///

Often the people who are already settled in these communities are in as dire as situation economically and socially as those who are returning. So, in many cases it would seem quite unfair to just assist the returnees. So, 20 percent of our assistance goes into the community as a whole.

///END ACT///

The Red Cross says the international community must pay more attention to the needs of the returnees if it wishes to keep them at home.

It notes almost seven-thousand Bosnians have applied for asylum in other countries this year. Red Cross Spokesman McClean is concerned that this reflects a desperation and lack of hope for the future that the international community must address. (Signed)

NEB/LS/AWP/KBK