Croatia seeks help in refugee care

Please note that the number of refugees (3,000) in Croatia, as reported in the article ``Bosnian Serbs Make a Business Out of Ethnic Cleansing,'' June 10, is incorrect. Croatia has been taking care of some 300,000 Bosnian refugees and approximately 250,000 of its own displaced persons for more than two years now. In May alone, it took in at least 8,428 new Bosnian refugees.

This new wave of refugees prompted appeals last week by the Croatian government to the UN Secretary-General and diplomatic envoys in Zagreb. Croatia is seriously concerned about its capacity to take care of so many. Every eighth person in Croatia is a refugee or a displaced person.

Croatia may be spending more for the care of Bosnian refugees than any other country. Despite having an economy a tiny fraction of that of the United States, the Croatian government spent an estimated $832 million for the care of Bosnian refugees and another $812 million for its own displaced persons as of 1993. By comparison, the US has spent $500 million as of April, and the European Union has spent $900 million for refugees in the former Yugoslavia.

I hope this information provides the necessary context behind the urgent appeal by the Croatian government for assistance in the care of the more than a half-million refugees and displaced persons in Croatia. Mario Nobilo, New York Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Croatia to the United Nations

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