Bosnia first post-war census reopens old wounds

SARAJEVO, Bosnia and Herzegovina – Bosnia Tuesday, October 1, began a census that has become a high-stakes political event expected to reveal the extent of the upheaval from the 1992-95 war but also to affect the terms of the deal that ended it.

“For the first time in 22 years we will get a complete image of Bosnia-Herzegovina’s population,” head of the country’s statistics bureau Zdenko Milinovic told Agence France-Presse.

Bosnia was the most ethnically diverse republic of the former Yugoslavia, which collapsed in a series of 1990s wars.

When the 1991 census was held Bosnia was one of six Yugoslav republics with a population of 4.4 million, of whom 43.5% were Muslims, 31.2% Serbs and 17.4% Croats.

But half the population was displaced during the war between Croats, Muslims and Serbs. Around 100,000 people were killed.

“During the campaigns, no-one raised the issue… that multi-ethnic communities in Bosnia-Hercegovina simply died out or are very rare,” political analyst Tanja Topic said.

Bosnia remains deeply divided along ethnic lines, split between two highly autonomous entities – the Serbs’ Republika Srpska and the Muslim-Croat Federation – linked by weak joint institutions.

The first results are due out 90 days after the two-week census ends.

“It became a top political issue, with most political and religious actors seeing it not as a statistical but rather a question of life or death,” Topic told Agence France-Pesse.

The 1995 Dayton peace agreement introduced a political system in which Muslims – known as Bosniaks – along with Serbs and Croats are the Balkan country’s “constituent peoples” and the only ones with access to top jobs.

For Bosnia’s Croats and Serbs, there is no dilemma about their ethnic affiliation.

But the fear is that some Bosnian Muslims will declare themselves as Bosniaks, as Muslims or simply as Bosnians, diluting their representation in the state’s institutions.

“Us Bosniaks, we will say that we are Bosniaks!” read a front-page headline of the influential Dnevni Avaz daily, quoting a message by Bosnia’s Grand Mufti Husein Kavazovic.

While Croats and Serbs see neighboring Croatia and Serbia as their motherlands respectively, Bosnian Muslims are the only one supporting the idea of a ‘Bosnian’ nation.

“In the former Yugoslavia, I was declaring myself Yugoslav. Now, I would say that I’m Bosnian, meaning a citizen of Bosnia without an ethnic affiliation, and of Muslim faith,” said Kemal Besic, a 57-year-old unemployed worker from Sarajevo.

Bosnia’s constitution, imposed by the Dayton agreement, gives the tree “constituent” peoples the same level of political power regardless of their number.

“The idea of a Bosnia with equal citizens is very nice, but it is an utopia today. It will be possible maybe in next three or four generations,” Sanin Babic, a 35-year-old businessman, told AFP.

A multi-ethnic movement Jednakost (Equality) has campaigned to urge people to reject “ethnic pigeonholing”.

Eldar Kapetanovic will declare himself simply as Bosnian, which will result in being counted as a member of the minorities that do not have access to top state and legislative posts.

“This will be my resistance to this stupidity when people are judged upon their ethnicity and not upon their competences.

“Actually, maybe we should declare ourselves simply as ‘Normal’,” the 34-year-old IT expert said.

European countries generally hold a census every 10 years, but Bosnia’s has been repeatedly postponed due to disagreement between leaders of the three ethnic groups.

A lack of data has hampered the development of economic, demographic and social strategies and prevented authorities from providing reliable per-capita economic data needed for population purchasing power or on its education level. – Rappler.com