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

Dayton, people felt like they were living in a dream, but now there ismovement and life feels normal to some degree .The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is an excellent example of the progressachieved thus far. In 1995, the Croats came back and in 1997, the Serbs .The Ministry is so small that they need to work together . An example was thebriefings on the day we visited, the Minister would need to be able to rely onthe staff putting it together. After two to three years, there was no greatturbulence and although there are some small problems, these have settleddown and they are now working well, 97% of all property has been returned toits rightful owner . This does not mean that all refugees have returned, butthose who have had their property returned to them . The usual figure forrefugee return after wartime is between 25-30%, but the figure here is muchbigger . The last census was held in 1991 and it is hoped to hold another onesoon .The Land Register is a serious problem currently but it had been wellmanaged when the Austrians were in the country post 1878 . People arefinding it difficult to return because of stress and bad memories and thebehaviour of some people . The media has also created an image of militancywhich though not accurate has had an influence on people . The populationwith its different ethnic and religious groups is proud of their capacity to livetogether, the leaders are seen as the guilty ones, not the people .The economic situation is also a disincentive to return, the standard of living islow with average salary around the 500 marks, or 300 Euros per month .Official unemployment is at 43% (although 20% plus are estimated to beinvolved in the black economy) . The people of BiH are unhappy .The international community invested $5 billion on infrastructure but they haveseen little economic progress . Some infrastructure has been built, some of itbeing better than before war . There are some 20,000 representatives sent bythe International community in BiH, on salaries of 20,000 - 30,000 Euros butthe criticism is that they are not properly qualified to assist the localcommunity and there should be much better criteria for selecting them .The community was still facing strong prejudice and it was pointed out that aremore fanatical Islamists in London than in BiH . The Minister said that theworst thing for him during the war was not being able to get enough food forhis children . They lost one million inhabitants . 350,000 refugees were inGermany during the war but after the Dayton Agreement they were told toreturn home Many moved to the U .S .A, - in 1995, there were 25,000 BiHs inthe U .S.A and now there are more than 300,000 . Another 100,000 are inAustria .Many young people would like to migrate and work abroad to achieve adecent standard of living . The situation here is if the father cannot find work,what hope is there for son, although many of the Diaspora would like to returnif jobs and standards of living can be improved . The two current obstacles areTravel Report, Hon . Michael Atkinson, MP. and Ms. Vini Ciccarello MP., August, 2004 72