Refugees Settlement into Townships of Voivodina, August 8, 1992.
On August 8, 1992. authorized central organs sent a letter to the mayors of townships in Voivodina, requiring them to urgently make room for the settlement of ethnic Serb refugees from Bosnia presently residing in camps throughout Serbia. According to the letter, the refugees can be accomodated in abandoned, vacant houses and with elderly couples. Belgrade authorities justified their request referring to the townships financial conditions (determinde by per capita GNP and employment ratios) and previous accomodation of refugees. Based on the above two criteria, the authorities calculated the number of refugees to be admitted by each township. Below, we list those Hungarian-populated Northern Bácska townships that will be most affected by the above decisions:
Township |
# of refugees |
total pop. |
Hungarian pop. |
Topolya = Bačka Topola |
2.398 |
40.483 |
26.512 |
Kishegyes = Mali Iđo |
1.745 |
14.375 |
8.500 |
Magyarcsernye = Nova Crnja |
2.305 |
14.511 |
2.022 |
Törökbecse = Novi Bečej |
2.275 |
28.763 |
6.139 |
Ada = Ada |
2.905 |
21.482 |
16.715 |
Csóka = Čoka |
2.315 |
15.263 |
8.668 |
Kanizsa = Kanji a |
2.419 |
30.692 |
27.148 |
Kikinda = Kikinda |
2.852 |
69.709 |
9.967 |
Törökkanizsa = Novi Kneevac |
2.843 |
13.810 |
4.726 |
Zenta = Senta |
2.800 |
28.767 |
23.477 |
Kula = Kula |
2.774 |
49.334 |
4.946 |
Becse = Bečej |
2.870 |
42.675 |
23.441 |
Szenttamás = Srbobran |
2.485 |
17.274 |
4.655 |
Temerin = Temerin |
1.976 |
24.901 |
9.661 |
Verbász = Vrbas |
3.434 |
46.382 |
3.435 |
In addition to demanding that refugees be accomodated in apartments with every modern convenience, the Belgrade directives also require that appropriate schooling be provided for the children of refugee families. As a result, new Serbian language sections must be introduced in educational institutions before September 1.
The letter does not include a single sentence regarding Serbian government financial assistance for the realization of the above directives.
The number of refugees designated to be admitted includes those registered refugees that already reside on the territory of these townships. In the Hungarian-populated townships this figure is generally 10 percent of the requested number.