CONTEMPORARY EURASIA VOLUME VIII (1) ContemporaryEurasia81 | Page 107

BEATA BOEHM
Kosovo were settled by local community authorities in the villages Vocin
and Dulovac in abandoned homes of Serbs who had fled to the Serbian area.
In 1993, the community authorities vowed that the aforementioned refugees
would vacate the homes if and when the original Serbian owners were to
return.
Although 300 Croatian policemen were allocated to the UNPA Sector
West in order to maintain law and order, in February 1995, 5,000 armed
Croatian militias infiltrated the Sector and were observed in 40 different
positions by UNPROFOR. Croatian military units were gathered in the
demilitarized zone 30 km outside of the UNPA. Serbian militias were
smuggled in from Bosnia in the south. RSK armed forces shelled Zagreb.
Croatian armed forces attacked the Krajina Serbs in two of the four UN
Sectors. On 1st May 1995, the Croatian forces overran the UN checkpoints
and conquered the Sector West in a “Blitz attack”. As a consequence, about
5,000 Serbs left the Sector. Of the remaining approximately 6,000 persons,
six months later only about 1,500 Serbs had stayed in the region.
Participating players in the “Social Reconstruction Programme”
- The “United Nations Peace Keeping Military Force” consisted of 12
infantry regiments with 10,400 UN soldiers and 2,850 additional
logistics personnel, including headquarters in Zagreb as well as 100
military observers. Four regiments with 3,500 men were tasked with
the implementation of the UNPROFOR mandate in the UNPA
Sector West.
- The “United Nations Civil Affairs” unit contained ca. 100 UN
experts who were stationed in all four UNPAs and headquartered in
Zagreb. They were responsible for civilian affairs and the
implementation of political and economic reconstruction.
- The “United Nations Police Force (UNCIVPOL) was responsible for
monitoring the work of local police and supporting the local
population in cases of complaints regarding discrimination or human
rights violations.
- The United Nations Office Vienna coordinated the following
organisations:
- CARE Austria, member of CARE International (CARE –
Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere) is a politically,
ideologically and religiously independent organization giving
support regardless of nationality, ethnic origin, language, culture,
religion or gender
- Help Age International
- The Human Rights organisation Croatia Anti-War Campaign
- Volunteer Project Pakrac
- Austrian Peace Servants
107