IZBJEGLIČKI CENTAR GAŠINCI 1992. – 1999.
THE GAŠINCI REFUGEE CENTRE 1992-1999

Summary/Abstract: On the basis of unpublished archival materials, periodicals and the relevant scholarly literature the authors have given an account of the existence, the work and the role of the Gašinci Refugee Centre from its opening in 1992 up until its closing in 1999. The aim has been to note the humanitarian activities of the Croatian government and of various humanitarian organizations in hosting primarily Muslim refugees from the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Refugee Centre. This paper elaborates the reasons and the purpose of the establishment of the Centre in Gašinci, presents its accommodation capacities and determines the living conditions of the refugees in the Centre. Furthermore, the functioning of the Gašinci Refugee Centre was based on the assurance of a high quality of social and religious life which was necessarily carried out in communication and coexistence with the Đakovo region. Hence, this paper presents the forms of social and religious life and of humanitarian organizations that supported the implementation of numerous projects as well as the establishment and the functioning of the Refugee Centre. Because of the specific circumstances of politics and the war, the end of the paper discusses the potential escalation of ethnic conflicts in the Centre and the Đakovo region due to Croatian-Muslim conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as to certain animosities between the refugees and other deprived persons in Gašinci in need of accommodation.

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