 |
Pope Calls on International Community To Help Refugees Return Home
He made his remarks in a speech to an international commission set up under the Dayton peace accords to help reclaim the property and goods of Bosnian refugees. "Every refugee is rootless, just trying to survive in the hope that a better day will come," the Pope said, adding that the peoples of former Yugoslavia needed a "purification of the heart" to rebuild society after four years of war.
Bosnia's Serbs have given little indication they will accept the return of mostly Muslim refugees to land they occupy -- as stipulated in the Dayton accords -- prompting refugee support groups to urge that repatriations be delayed.
Muslim refugees trying to return to Bosnia have been attacked by Serbs who say the land now belongs to them, and the United Nations and NATO say such attacks represent a major threat to the fragile peace process.
|
VATICAN CITY, June 8 (Reuters) -- Pope John Paul on Saturday urged the international community to help refugees driven from Bosnia return home, saying ethnic cleansing must give way to a "purification of hearts." "Governments and international organisations must make a priority in their aid programmes of helping families return, promoting civil rights and the basic values of social harmony," the Pope said.
POPE JOHN PAUL II
Berserkistan, May 18 · Pope John Paul Honors Slovenians In Quest for Peace
The Holy See Official Vatican Web Site
The Unofficial Pope John Paul II
Biographical Sketch of Pope John Paul II
Vatican Radio News Today's Newscast in Real Audio
REFUGEES
Berserkistan, June 5 · Muslims Accused of 'Silent Ethnic Cleansing' of Sarajevo Serbs
Berserkistan, June 5 · Forced Repatriation from Germany Delayed Until October
Berserkistan, June 2 · Serbs Stone Muslims, Croats at Potocani
Berserkistan, June 2 · Serbs Renew Attacks on Refugees at Teslic
Berserkistan, June 1 · Steiner Asks Serbs to Halt Ethnic Cleansing in Teslic
United Nations UN High Commissioner for Refugees' RefWorld
OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina
Berserkistan is a world news service of Michael Linder Productions, Inc.
©1995-1996, All Rights Reserved