Displaced Bosnians blame politicians for their woes

Displaced Bosnians blame politicians for their woes

Modrica, Bosnia and Herzegovina
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Edis Haskic (pictured below) has been living in a reception centre since 1995, when Bosnian Serb forces killed his father and 8,000 other Muslim Bosniak men and boys in the eastern town of Srebrenica in Europe's worst atrocity since World War Two.

. Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Haskic (second left) speaks with friends at a reception camp in Mihatovici near Tuzla.

He shares the destiny of more than 7,000 people from across Bosnia's ethnic divide, still displaced from the 1992-95 war and residing in 120 such shelters.

Their fate is not high on the agenda of Bosnian politicians whose campaigning for Oct. 7 general elections is characterised by ethnically divisive rhetoric and opposing views of Bosnia's future - the very issues at the core of the war in which 100,000 people were killed and two million driven from their homes.

Waiting for the state to assign him a new home, Haskic (second left), 33, got married in the northern village of Mihatovici and is now trying to raise his own children with monthly state aid of 60 euros. He is forced to seek daily jobs to help make ends meet.

"Politicians are guilty for this situation because, apart from free meals, no other chance or help was given to me," he said, adding he has lost hope of ever returning to Srebrenica.

. Travnik, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic
An ethnically divided school with a separate entrances for Bosniak (left) and Croat students, stands in Travnik.

The 1995 Dayton peace deal ended the war by splitting Bosnia into two distinct regions - the Serb Republic and the Bosniak-Croat Federation - but ethnic tensions remain high, blocking progress towards membership of NATO and the European Union.

Muslim Bosniak children and Roman Catholic Croats attend the same schools but still learn from different curricula - a practice devised as an interim solution after the war that has persisted despite a top court ruling it as discriminatory.

. Modrica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Kovacevic sits in his room at a reception centre in Kladari Donji.

"The politicians are guilty for everything. They are the ones who divide us," said Rasko Kovacevic, a Serb from a camp in the northern village of Kladari Donji, where life is far from easy.

. Bratunac, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. Reuters/Dado Ruvic
A makeshift toilette stands at a reception center in Bratunac.

Most families have only one room in which they sleep, prepare meals and even take baths. Many can use only makeshift wooden toilets shared by a dozen of people.

. Capljina, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. Reuters/Dado Ruvic
An internally displaced person works at a reception center in the village of Tasovcici near Capljina.

“They (politicians) only visit us before the elections when they need a vote but when I'm looking for a job, they just tap me on my shoulder," said Branko Mlikota, who lives in the Croat centre outside the southern town of Capljina for 24 years.

After many delays, the government has set a 2020 deadline for the closure of these centres. "They just promise but nobody has ever done anything for us," one refugee said.

. Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic
Soko, an aircraft manufacturing factory that shut down during the Bosnian War, is seen in Mostar.

Bosnians vote for a new presidency, national and regional parliaments on Oct. 7 in elections dominated by public frustration with the failure of authorities to tackle rampant corruption and sky-high unemployment.

Writing by Maja Zuvela

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Slideshow

A building that houses a reception centre where IDPs live (bottom floor) and a school (top floor) stands in Kladari Donji, near Modrica.
. Modrica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

A building that houses a reception centre where IDPs live (bottom floor) and a school (top floor) stands in Kladari Donji, near Modrica.

Internally displaced people are seen at a reception centre Kladari Donji near Modrica.
. Modrica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Internally displaced people are seen at a reception centre Kladari Donji near Modrica.

Teso Kuzmanovic, an internally displaced person from Gracanica, sits inside his home at a reception center Kladari Donji, near Modrica. "It is hard when you live alone. I hardly survive from month to month. Monthly welfare benefit is 60 euros and I spend all the money on food and medicine. There is no life here," he said.
. Modrica, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Teso Kuzmanovic, an internally displaced person from Gracanica, sits inside his home at a reception center Kladari Donji, near Modrica. "It is hard when you live alone. I hardly survive from month to month. Monthly welfare benefit is 60 euros and I spend all the money on food and medicine. There is no life here," he said.

Photographs hang on a wall inside the house of Teso Kuzmanovic.
. Modrica, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Photographs hang on a wall inside the house of Teso Kuzmanovic.

Bosniak Abida Avdic, an internally displaced person from Srebrenica, cries at her house in Mihatovici, near Tuzla. "I had a son. He died in the war. Now I'm alone, I don't have anyone. Nobody's visiting me," Avdic said. "I don't have any photos or memories from before, everything was left in Srebrenica and destroyed."
. Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Bosniak Abida Avdic, an internally displaced person from Srebrenica, cries at her house in Mihatovici, near Tuzla. "I had a son. He died in the war. Now I'm alone, I don't have anyone. Nobody's visiting me," Avdic said. "I don't have any photos or memories from before, everything was left in Srebrenica and destroyed."

Electricity socket is seen in a room of a reception centre in Kladari Donji.
. Modrica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Electricity socket is seen in a room of a reception centre in Kladari Donji.

Bosnian Croat Alojz Stjepic, an internally displaced person from Kiseljak, walks inside his house at a reception centre Tasovcici near Capljina. "I haven't felt good for last 24 years," Stjepic said. "I'm disabled since 2004 and I don't know if I would have survived if I didn't have a welfare benefit."
. Capljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Bosnian Croat Alojz Stjepic, an internally displaced person from Kiseljak, walks inside his house at a reception centre Tasovcici near Capljina. "I haven't felt good for last 24 years," Stjepic said. "I'm disabled since 2004 and I don't know if I would have survived if I didn't have a welfare benefit."

Food is distributed for internally displaced people at a reception centre in Mihatovici, near Tuzla.
. Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Food is distributed for internally displaced people at a reception centre in Mihatovici, near Tuzla.

Bosnian Croat Bernarda Turbic, an internally displaced person, poses for a photograph at a reception centre Tasovcici near Capljina.
. Capljina, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Bosnian Croat Bernarda Turbic, an internally displaced person, poses for a photograph at a reception centre Tasovcici near Capljina.

Bosnian Serb Nedjeljko Matic, an internally displaced person from Donji Vakuf, poses in front of his house at a reception centre in Bratunac. "My wife and my mother have died here in the camp. I only live with my son now," Matic said. "Politicians are only promising but no one has ever done anything for us."
. Bratunac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Bosnian Serb Nedjeljko Matic, an internally displaced person from Donji Vakuf, poses in front of his house at a reception centre in Bratunac. "My wife and my mother have died here in the camp. I only live with my son now," Matic said. "Politicians are only promising but no one has ever done anything for us."

Bosnian Serb Zorica Tomic (right), an internally displaced person, walks near a reception centre Kladari Donji.
. Modrica, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Bosnian Serb Zorica Tomic (right), an internally displaced person, walks near a reception centre Kladari Donji.

Bosniak Behka Ibisevic, an internally displaced person from Srebrenica, walks through a reception centre in Mihatovici. "I left Srebrenica in 1995. My husband died in the war. I've buried a total of 50 family members. I wonder how I survived all this," Ibisevic said.
. Tuzla, BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA. Reuters/Dado Ruvic

Bosniak Behka Ibisevic, an internally displaced person from Srebrenica, walks through a reception centre in Mihatovici. "I left Srebrenica in 1995. My husband died in the war. I've buried a total of 50 family members. I wonder how I survived all this," Ibisevic said.

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