Barriers to Reintegration after Ethnic Civil Wars: Lessons from Minority Returns and Restitution in the Balkans

• Published in: Civil wars Vol. 12; no. 4; pp. 370 - 394
• Main Author: Jenne, Erin K.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 01.12.2010
• Subjects: Bosnia and Herzegovina; Bosnia Herzegovina; Civil war; Constraints; Croatia; Ethnic groups; Grass Roots; Hostility; Interethnic conflict; International community; Kosovo; Post-conflict societies; Rehabilitation; Reparations; Return migration; War
• ISSN: 1369-8249; 1743-968X
• DOI: 10.1080/13698249.2010.534622

This article evaluates the record of minority return in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo to assess the viability of ethnic reintegration in the wake of protracted sectarian violence. Comparative analysis reveals that the logic of post-war ethnic spoils has greatly limited the success of such programmes. What success has been achieved is largely due to third party efforts to disrupt patronage networks and challenge post-war authorities. I conclude that these factors are more significant barriers to reintegration than inexorable ethnic hatreds and fears derived from memories of war. Because such barriers are more readily overcome than entrenched grassroots hostilities, there may be more hope for reintegration than previously thought. However, the systematic failure of the international community to protect and assist prospective minority returnees suggests that continued scepticism of post-war reintegration is in order.