§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Bosniac refugees have returned to Zepa and Srebrenica since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. [122316]
§ Mr. VazSince the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in November 1995, there have been 15 Bosniac returns to the town of Zepa, and 123 Bosniac returns to the Zepa municipality. There has been one Bosniac return to Srebrenica.
§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what final date has been set for the Kosovo municipal elections. [122315]
§ Mr. VazNo final date has been set for Kosovo's municipal elections. However, they are expected to take place in the autumn of this year.
§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what percentage of pre-war Bosniac inhabitants have returned to Eastern Bosnia since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. [122313]
§ Mr. VazThe UNHCR (United Nations High Commission for Refugees) do not have on record any figures for the percentage of Bosniac returns to Eastern Bosnia. However since the signing of the Dayton agreement in November 1995, 247,228 Bosniacs have returned to the Federation.
§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Serb refugees have returned to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. [122317]
§ Mr. VazThere have been no significant outflows of ethnic Serb refugees from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) during the last decade.
UNHCR figures put the number of Serb refugee returns to Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1 January 1996 (shortly after the Dayton agreement) at 33,470.
According to UNHCR statistics, there were 200,900 refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina and 296,600 refugees from Croatia present in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) at the end of 1998 (the latest figures available). In addition the number of internally displaced persons from Kosovo present in other parts of the FRY has been estimated provisionally at 180,000.
§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many Bosniac and Croat refugees have returned to the territory described as Republika Sprska since the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. [122319]
§ Mr. VazUNHCR figures state that between 1 January 1996 and 31 March 2000, there were 2,729 Bosniac returns and 1,021 Croat returns to Republika Sprska. (The General Framework Agreement for Peace was signed at Dayton in November 1995).
305W
§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of progress in establishing an effective judiciary in Kosovo. [122314]
§ Mr. VazThe development of an effective judiciary remains a matter of priority for the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). In addition to the recruitment of local judges and prosecutors, the UN has asked the international community to consider seconding legal professionals of their own. We have received a number of registrations of interest from prosecutors and are seeking to identify judges for short-term detachments to Kosovo to work with UNMIK.
§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of progress in preparations in advance of municipal elections in Kosovo, of regulations to define the function, powers and terms of, and limitations on, the municipal offices there; and what stage has been reached in the approval of these regulations by the UN. [122318]
§ Mr. VazThe Secretary General's Special Representative in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, is, with the co-operation of the Council of Europe, in the process of preparing a draft regulation entitled "Self-Government of Municipalities in Kosovo" which will set out the status, responsibilities and powers of Kosovo's municipalities. The document is in its second draft and is subject to continuing discussion.
§ Mr. MaudeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what assessment he has made of progress in the electoral registration of Kosovar Serbs resident in Serbia. [122312]
§ Mr. VazRegistration for the forthcoming municipal elections in Kosovo is the responsibility of the Joint Registration Task Force (JRTF) of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is handling out-of-area registration on behalf of the JRTF.
The JRTF is making strenuous efforts to ensure that displaced Kosovo Serbs are able to register. Three registration centres have been set up inside Kosovo, close to the internal boundary with Serbia for those Serbs wishing to register.
The task will be all the easier if Belgrade agrees to the registration process, which so far it has not. UNMIK are hoping however that Belgrade can be persuaded to give its agreement.