This post is also available in: Bosnian
The minister of labour and social policy in the Federation entity, Vesko Drljaca. Photo: Federation government
The government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted on Thursday in favour of adopting the draft Law of Protection of Civilian War Victims.
The draft legislation sets a legal framework for giving civilian victims of the 1992-95 war benefits such as a personal disability allowance, a personal income allowance and a care and assistance allowance, an orthopaedic treatment allowance and a family disability allowance.
Other benefits envisaged under the draft legislation are professional rehabilitation and retraining, priority status in employment and housing, and psychological and legal assistance.
The new law will, for the first time, recognise the rights of the children who were born as a result of wartime rape.
The rights of civilian war victims are currently governing by the Law on Social Protection, Protection of Civilian Victims of War and Protection of Families with Children in the Federation entity.
But the Federation’s minister of labour and social policy, Vesko Drljaca, said that “it is important to point out that this draft has made many improvements”.
Drljaca pointed to the fact that under the current legislation, certain people do not have a right to benefits because they own certain amount of real estate or land.
He said that under the draft law, “all families of killed or missing civilians will be treated equally” and that people will not be denied benefits on the basis of how much they earn each month.
The draft law has been sent to the Federation’s parliament for consideration and voting.
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s other entity, Serb-dominated Republika Srpska, has its own separate legislation on war victims. The NGO Trial International has pointed out in the past that because there is no state-level law governing the issue, there is “unequal treatment of victims within Bosnia and Herzegovina depending on their place of residence”.
