As a result of their failure to do so. each of the ethnic regions of Bosnia has become largely homogeneous. the results of ethnic cleansing are now the dominant fact of life in Bosnia. The political provisions of the Dayton agreement seek to reverse this state of affairs. They provide for free movement among the ethnic enclaves. for free repatriation of refugees and for elections leading to national reconciliation. This vision has turned out to be a mirage. No free movement among the various ethnic enclaves takes place. and no mail or telephone services exist. Each ethnic group issues its own currency. license plates and passports. Serbs with Cyrillic license plates are at particular risk in other areas. but so are the Muslims and Croats if they leave their enclaves. Not surprisingly. refugees tend to return home only with armed escorts and are frequently obliged to flee as soon as the escorts leave. Nor will elections solve the problem. In Bosnia. elections are not about alternation in office but about dominance determining life. death and religion. They must either ratify the new ethnic composition. or. since refugees vote on the rolls of the towns from which they havg been expelled. produce the bizarre situation that absentee voters are In a position to "win" and. in effect. gain the right to rule the group that expelled them. In the Krajina region. for example. now occupied by Croatia. the voting rolls of many towns show a majority of Serbs. all of whom have been expelled. Are NATO forces expected to enforce this outcome?
Keywords matched
refugees