The office of Displaced and Refugees in Croatia (ODPR) has begun a string of scheduled refugee camp closings in and around the capital. On Tuesday, the Spansko camp, which held just over 200 Bosnian refugees, was closed while today a camp in Zaprude was closed. The refugees were given the choice of either returning to their homes in Bosnia (mostly from the areas retaken by HVO and BiH troops this summer) or being moved to the Gasinci refugee camp near Osijek. The inhabitants were notified 10 and 15 days respectively in advance of the closure, and immediately began lobbying ODPR in an attempt to extend the closure date to later in the Spring when the weather improves. However, even though the UNHCR and the Bosnian Embassy were notified there was nothing done which could persuade the ODPR to prolong the decision. This despite the fact that Sadako Ogata, Head of UNHCR, stated on the 16th of January at a one day meeting on refugees from former Yugoslavia, that "a phased, orderly repatriation that could take up to two years to complete" would be necessary. Further, according to a Reuters article, Ogata suggested that European states give refugees the chance to visit Bosnia and prepare for their eventual return while keeping the right of re-entry to their host country.None of this affected ODPR's decision to close the camps. Today the Zaprude camp was emptied of nearly all its Bosnian refugees. Only those who were sick or in schoold were allowed to stay. According to some Croatian displaced persons who also live in Zaprude but were allowed to stay, the Bosnians for the most part either went home or found private accommodations in Zagreb. When asked if the refugees had wanted to leave one man replied, "Who would want to go to Gasinci? It's horrible there, but they can't go home either, God knows what will happen to them." Only a very small number from both camp closures this week elected to move to the large and unpopular Gasinci camp.
According to an employee at the camp the newly emptied barracks of Zaprude will accommodate Croatian returnees from Germany and other European countries upon their impending arrival. This will not be the case in Spansko however, as those barracks were demolished the day after the refugees left.
A Local UNHCR spokesperson indicated that these camp closures were legal and there was little that could be done to stop them, "Because the refugees had a choice (Gasinci), and they chose to go home."
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Otvorene Oci / Balkan Peace Team.