Croatian Government and OSCE Mission launch Public Awareness Campaign on Return

Funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the report reflects the results of a survey conducted by the Puls Agency on the “Motivational and Emotional Factors for the Return of Refugees to their Homes and the Acceptance of their Return by the Local Population”.

According to the Head of the OSCE Mission, Ambassador Peter Semneby, the report shows that there is a potential for positively influencing the conditions for sustainable return through raising information awareness and by the promotion of tolerance among refugees and the receiving communities.

“Creating an atmosphere conducive to return also requires that conditions for return are being addressed, most importantly access to housing,” said Ambassador Semneby.

As a joint-initiative by the Croatian Government and its international partners, the purpose of the Public Awareness Campaign would be two-fold.

On the one hand, the campaign will aim at encouraging refugees and internally displaced persons to make an informed decision on whether they want to return. On the other, the campaign will also help contribute to establish a climate conducive to sustainable return by promoting the importance of tolerance in building an integrated society based on European values.

“The Croatian Government has already taken several initiatives to improve the atmosphere for return. The political agreement with Serb minority representatives and other steps of reconciliation towards minorities have had an important positive impact,” said Ambassador Semneby. He stated that Croatia’s EU integration efforts will play an equally positive role as a common vision and a catalyst for creating conditions for return.

The campaign is designed to facilitate the resolution of the remaining tasks related to refugee return. The Government is launching another information campaign on the housing programmes for those former occupancy/tenancy rights holders who wish to return, which is the last major refugee category without a housing option.

Partners in the Public Awareness Campaign on Reconciliation and Sustainable Return are the Croatian Government, OSCE Mission to Croatia, the EC Mission to Croatia, USAID, and the UNHCR Mission to Croatia.

A public tender for the Campaign’s implementing partner will be issued this week.