UNHCR recommends implementation of Durable Solutions Process for refugees from Croatia displaced by the 91-95 conflict, including cessation of refugee status

Date: 
Friday, April 11, 2014

Almost 20 years after the end of the 1991-95 conflict in the former Yugoslavia, UNHCR has recommended the cessation process for refugees from Croatia to commence.

Article 1C(5) of the Refugee Convention provides that the Convention shall cease to apply to any person if ‘he can no longer, because circumstances in connexion with which he has been recognised as a refugee have ceased to exist, continue to refuse to avail himself of the protection of the country of his nationality’. An important caveat in the same paragraph excludes cessation for a refugee ‘who is able to invoke compelling reasons arising out of previous persecution’.

UNHCR concludes that ‘the circumstances that triggered displacement have fundamentally changed. Regional cooperation has intensified, voluntary returns have taken place, different ethnic groups have proven able to peacefully co-exist and economic and political progress is increasingly visible’. Exceptions to UNHCR’s recommendation that international protection is no longer required are made with regard to witnesses of war crimes, members of the Roma minority, undocumented stateless refugees, and refugees whose trauma during the war was particularly severe.

UNHCR states that by the close of 2014, host countries can end refugee status for the 49,056 refugees from Croatia registered in the region, almost all of whom are ethnic Serb.

Notwithstanding the cessation of refugee status, UNHCR notes that the individuals affected still need support, and recommends that states remain engaged in the Regional Durable Solutions process, which includes a programme providing housing to refugees, internally displaced persons, and their families. ‘The successful integration of former refugees is a long term process which continues after refugee status has ceased. In the Western Balkans challenges remain for minority groups to access employment, housing, public services and infrastructure as well as to overcome discrimination’.

Read UNHCR’s press release and the full recommendations.


11 April 2014

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Keywords: 
Cessation of protection
Tags: 
UNHCR
Croatia