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March 19. 2005
Dear Sir/Madam,
We would like to ask for your help concerning the situation
affecting many citizens of Serbia and Montenegro who now live in
exile.
At the beginning of the war in the region of former Yugoslavia
during 1991 and 1992, approximately 500.000 mainly young and highly
educated people had left the country. A recent study by the ministry
of emigration of the Serbian Republic states that there is a total
of 12 million Serbs and 4 million live outside the region of the
former Yugoslavia.
The young men who happened to be outside Yugoslavia and did not join
the Yugoslav army during the war between 1991 and 1999 are left in
exile unable to return to Serbia and Montenegro without a risk of
arrest! We’d like to describe this unacceptable position to you in
the reminder of this letter.
Under a law of the former Yugoslavia, all conscripts who wanted to
emigrate where obliged to apply for permission to do so from the
Yugoslav Army High Command. In the chaotic situation that existed
during the war it was difficult, complicated if not impossible to
obtain such permission. Many conscripts had no option but to leave
Yugoslavia without an agreement from the army.
To worsen the situation further, during the NATO bombing of Serbia
in 1999, Milosevic’s regime in Serbia and Montenegro, had changed
the upper age limit for conscripts from 27 to 35 years of age. This
was done to ensure that the men who have so far evaded the military
service couldn’t do so any more. This has meant that the men who
have emigrated in the early years of the war could not return back
to the country without being arrested, sent to serve the military
service and any prison sentences.
Under the Dayton agreement in 1995 and the Kumanovo peace accord
signed with NATO in 1999, the general assembly of the former
Yugoslavia (then consisting of only Serbia and Montenegro) had
adopted an amnesty for those men who have refused to fight for the
Yugoslav army during the war. However, those conscripts who didn’t
serve the military service or have not responded to drafts were
still required to join the army.
The men who emigrated during the war between 1991 and 1999 had
settled in their adopted countries, studied, found employment,
established their families and have fixed assets. They are
well-respected members of their communities. All have settled
immigration status and some now have dual nationality. Serving the
military service lasting almost twelve months is impossible due to
the commitments to their families, the company where they work and
any repayment commitments for loans they might have raised.
Under article 305, the law of
army of Serbia and Montenegro should ensure better treatment of
those men who have dual nationality. They should be relieved of
their duty. In most of the cases, applications on the basis of dual
nationality are refused from the behalf of the Army High Command.
Furthermore, attempts to renounce their original nationality were
refused on the basis that the men have not served their military
service. This has left the men with dual nationality in situation
they can not resolve.
At the end of 2004, the defence minister, Mr Prvoslav Davinic, has
made a statement that the problem facing conscripts now living
abroad should be resolved.
According to him, a decree should have prevented the army conscripts
entering Serbia and Montenegro from being arrested at the borders.
Further, Mr Davinic had announced that an adopted bill would finally
resolve the issue: the army conscript would need to report to the
embassy where he lives and submit an application for relief from the
military service duty. The necessary documents for the application
needed to show their residency in the settled country: proof of
employment, school or university enrolment or financial commitments.
The minister has also announced that the conscripts over the age of
35 would be automatically relieved of their military service duty.
The announcement has been widely published by the media in Serbia
and Montenegro and also posted on the web site of the Ministry of
Defence. This has received very positive response from expatriates.
It seemed that many of those men who have not visited their country
for as long as 13 or 14 years would now have a choice to do so.
The news about arrests of two men at the border of Hungary and
Serbia soon followed. The men had their passports confiscated and
they where asked to pay bail fees of 3000 euros.
Refusals for the relief from the military service duty had increased
in their frequency. Virtually all applications have been refused
since then, despite earlier assurances from minister Davinic for a
revised policy towards the conscripts. A fee of 50 euros was charged
for the application and an equivalent amount was charged for
collection of the response even if the response was negative.
As a group of Serbia and Montenegro expatriates, we have sent an
appeal to minister Davinic. In a reply, made via a press
announcement, the minister alleges that no promises for revised
policies towards conscripts were made. The summary of the reply was
“No one has made any promises”. The military authorities meanwhile
continue with arrests of conscripts at the frontiers of Serbia and
Montenegro. Our applications for the relief from duty, which have
been submitted according to the rules of the Ministry of Defense,
continue to be dismissed without a reason for refusal. The response
usually states “the conscript does not meet the criteria”.
We would like to appeal for you help and assistance with resolving
this long standing and senseless situation. It is apparent that
there is no official body in Serbia and Montenegro that is in a
position to help us. We would kindly like to ask you for assistance
in the search for an acceptable solution. We would also like to ask
you to raise and discuss this issue with the authorities of Serbia
and Montenegro.
We believe that everyone has a right to visit relatives and friends
in the country of their domicile. This kind of measure of rebuilding
trust has been organized even between enemies of war in the cases of
Korea and Cyprus. We truly believe that time has come, the time when
this problem finally needs to be resolved.
With hope that you will be able to provide assistance with this
matter, we remain
Yours faithfully,
A group of expatriates from Serbia and Montenegro
This group
maintains
http://www.dijaspora-vojna-obaveza.info and has members in
Austria, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Holland, Hungary, Italy,
Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, UK, USA and Venezuela.
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