TRAVEL REPORT The Hon. Michael Atkinson MP Attorney-General ...

Thursday 5th August, 2004 .Mr Valeriu FloreanHead of Field Office, Osijek,Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),The delegation was advised that OSCE was the only internationalorganisation still operating in the area . The Field Office receives about 30inquiries per week from displaced persons .Eastern Slavonia had been one of most developed regions in formerYugoslavia . It is now the poorest, as a result of the War with no properinfrastructure . The figures indicate unemployment level of 90% in someformer Serbian ethnic villages . There are opportunities for economicdevelopment in the areas agriculture and farming, and some eco-tourism,given the presence of national parks and reservations which could qualify forfunding from the World Wildlife Fund and the World Bank .The construction of Corridor 5 incorporating road and train transport whichwould connect Rjeka with Budapest should provide opportunities for manyjobs .The E .U . is committed to building a road network from Barcelona to theUkraine . It will connect from the coast to Zagreb . It is proposed thatconstruction will start in 2005 to finish by 2015 .The rail corridor to Vojvodina is still closed . It used to be the main traffic routeto Serbia . An agreement for free traffic was signed only last year .Between 1991 to1995, 65,000 Serbs settled in Eastern Slovenia when it wasunder occupation . 80-90,000 Croats were expelled from the Serb-occupiedterritories .Between 1996 to1998, when reintegration started 55, 0000 Serbs left for thirdcountries . 35,000 were displaced persons Croatians were the main groupwishing to return . Most Croatians were successful in repossessing houses .Vukovar, despite having had to reconstruct more than 6000 flats which hadbeen destroyed it had seen a return of 51 per cent of the populationResettlement and reintegration remains a high priority for the Mission . It doesthis by monitoring and providing advice to the responsible bodies, maintainscontacts with the NGO's in addition to visiting clients who are experiencingany problems .For those wishing to return the availability of adequate housing is a precondition. There are two main Government programs which will assistsquatters who have taken over other people's properties to be rehoused . InJune, 2003, a new housing program was launched . The Mission was involvedin the education and publicity campaign for that program, including T.V . andTravel Report, Hon. Michael Atkinson, MP. and Ms. Vini Ciccarello MP ., August, 2004 55