UN refugee agency reports 1,415 returns in Bosnia and Herzegovina in February

SARAJEVO, April 13 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency says 1,415 refugees and internally displaced persons, or IDPs, went back in February to their pre-war homes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The number includes 891 so-called minority returnees.

Since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in December 1995, UNHCR has recorded the return of 987,713 refugees and displaced persons throughout Bosnia and Herzegovina. Of this number, 438,948 were refugees and 548,765 were internally displaced persons. The figures included 436,238 minority returns.

During a visit to the region last month, Assistant High Commissioner Kamel Morjane hailed the significant achievements and progress made in the return process since Dayton. However, he noted that some 100,000 refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina remained displaced in the area. He noted that Bosnia and Herzegovina was still hosting more than 25,000 refugees from Croatia and Kosovo, while some 325,000 IDPs still require a durable solution to their plight.