After Ethnic Cleansing: Return Outcomes in Bosnia-Herzegovina a Decade Beyond War

Ethnic cleansing is a violent geopolitical practice designed to separate and segregate ethnic groups. This article describes both the war aims that justified ethnic cleansing in Bosnia-Herzegovina and the efforts by the international community to enable victims of ethnic cleansing to return to their homes. It considers the trends and geography of population returns ten years after the war, before presenting original survey research results on displacement and return experiences. An overwhelming majority of Bosnians reclaimed their prewar property and a majority of these actually returned to their homes. Those self-identifying as Bosnian Serbs were more likely to sell their prewar homes than were members of other ethnic groups; they also tend to be less interested in multiethnicity. The poor were more likely to reclaim and return to live in their houses than were richer groups. Those with strong attachment to their home villages were more likely to return. Despite more than a million returns, nearly half of whom are officially minority returns, Bosnia continues to grapple with the divisive legacy of ethnic cleansing.