Over two million of people were forced to leave their homes during the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, solely because of their ethnic origin. The ombudsman institution in the Bosnian Federation is now making efforts to enable these people to return, provide them safety, freedom and employment, the Bosnian Federation Ombudsman Branka Raguz said in an interview for STA.
There are three ombudsmen working at the ombudsman institution of the Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina, one for each entity. The ombudsmen mainly strive to secure the conditions for the people returning to Bosnia to stay there. Some 700,000 people are said to be waiting to return to their homeland.

Ombudsmen's priority in the Bosnian Federation is to help eliminate the consequence of ethnic persecution, Raguz said, explaining that this is also written down in the Constitution. Although they can only give recommendations, they invest a lot of efforts into democratisation and the prevention of mass human rights violations.

Some 40,000 to 50,000 people have sought help at the ombudsman's institution in the seven years since it was introduced in the Bosnian Federation. The ombudsmen have received over 10,000 cases annually in the recent years.

A special problem in Bosnia are social rights, as the looming poverty could in a way threaten everything what has been achieved, Raguz told STA. Pensions are very low and there are many people who have lost their right to work, Raguz illustrated some of the problems.

The justice reform is causing a lot of problems, Raguz said, adding that the situation is rather complicated in general. "If there was more political will, matters would be solved more easily," said Raguz, who thinks that the situation is improving.

The ombudsman institution in the Bosnian Federation has been introduced seven year ago, following the signing of the Washington Treaty in 1994.

The three ombudsman in the federation act as a team in all key issues, which is why they have become a synonym for multi-ethnicity, as they have been long the only multiethnic institution in Bosnia-Herzegovina, according to Raguz.

There are three ombudsmen institutions in Bosnia. Besides the central ombudsman institution, headed by Ombudsman Frank Orton, there is an ombudsman institution in the Bosnian Federation and the Republic of Srpska.