Though the Dog is Dead, the Pig must be Killed: Finishing with Property Restitution to Bosnia-Herzegovina's IDPs and Refugees

The process of postwar reconciliation in Bosnia-Herzegovina has been slow and problematic, with a notable exception: the physical restitution to refugees and internally displaced persons of over 200,000 properties ‘abandoned’ during the conflict. Even this remarkable achievement was far from assured a few short years ago. Bosnian officials, responsible for returning the property, struggled to maintain the status quo after 1995 of an ethnically cleansed Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, concerted and unified international pressure, coupled with pragmatic responses to obstruction on the ground and an increasingly rule-of-law and rights-based approach, eventually overcame official obstruction. Ironically, the very success of the restitution process, and the realization that property restitution does not necessarily lead to refugee and IDP return, highlighted divisions within the international community. To a degree, it also covered for the failure of both the Bosnian and international authorities to ensure the necessary conditions for real and sustainable return.