BOSNIA (ACN News): The international community is closing its eyes to an abuse of basic human rights in the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina, said Bishop Franjo Komarica of the diocese of Banja Luka in the north-west of the country.
He said that, more than 15 years after the war there, Catholics were being denied the right to return to their homes.
“It is a crime against the rights of the individual, who is being denied one of his most elementary rights, namely the right to a homeland,” the bishop told the staff of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
In the diocese of Banja Luka alone, more than 70,000 Catholics were expelled from their houses and villages during the war, and to date 5800 have been able to return to their homes.
Bishop Komarica said Catholics were being systematically denied the possibility of returning, whereas during the same period more than 250,000 Muslim “Bosniaks” have been able to return.
“In this way the injustice of ‘ethnic cleansing’ is ultimately being tolerated to this day,” he said.
This “creeping extinction” of the Catholic minority in the country is confirmed by Valentin Inzko, who since March 2009 has been the High Representative and European Union Special Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The Austrian diplomat told ACN staff Catholics were finding it difficult to get work, faced difficulties when dealing with official agencies and felt discriminated against and disadvantaged.
He said he intended to speak up for the interests of the Catholic minority with the government of Bosnia and Herzegovina, as soon as it was in office.
The Croat-Muslim Federation is still to establish a joint government following the elections of October 2010.
A decisive factor for the future of the country is an improvement in the social situation; this is the view of the apostolic nuncio in Bosnia-Herzegovina Archbishop Alessandro D’Errico.
He said young people in particular must be given a real hope for the future, otherwise they would simply leave the region.
As the Vatican’s representative in the country, the archbishop thanked ACN for its help in the rebuilding of ruined churches and other Church-run institutions.
He said “European Schools”, which are open to Christians and Muslims and which have a strong focus on reconciliation, were another encouraging sign.
Offering young people some future prospects, in the light of their faith, is something Vrhbosna archdiocese is striving to do.
To this end, the 40th Diocesan Youth Day was held in late May, and Archbishop of Vrhbosna Cardinal Vinko Puljic walked with 2700 young people to the Marian shrine of Kondzilo.
