After Ethnic Cleansing: Return Outcomes in Bosnia-Herzegovina a Decade Beyond War

摘要

Ethnic cleansing is a violent geopolitical practice designed to separate and segregate ethnic groups. This articledescribes both the war aims that justified ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the efforts by the inter-national community to enable victims of ethnic cleansing to return to their homes. It considers the trends andgeography of population returns ten years after the war, before presenting original survey research results ondisplacement and return experiences. An overwhelming majority of Bosnians reclaimed their prewar propertyand a majority of these actually returned to their homes. Those self-identifying as Bosnian Serbs were more likelyto sell their prewar homes than were members of other ethnic groups; they also tend to be less interested inmultiethnicity. The poor were more likely to reclaim and return to live in their houses than were richer groups.Those with strong attachment to their home villages were more likely to return. Despite more than a millionreturns, nearly half of whom are officially minority returns, Bosnia continues to grapple with the divisive legacyof ethnic cleansing.