Basic Demographic Characteristics of the Displaced Population from the Croatian East

A the Croatian East, throughout its long history, has never been an integral part of Serbia, and Serbs have never constituted the largest ethnic group in total population, this part of Croatia became the scene of aggression of Great Serbia, causing great suffering and tremendous devastation. Tens thousand of people were forced into exile; mostly Croats, but also Hungarians, Ruthenians, Ukrainians, Slovaks, and even a small number of Serbs. During the offensives, and particularly in the course of a five-year occupation, Serbian aggressor by ethnic cleansing carried out regional and demographic occupation. According to the records of July 1,1996, in Croatia were 210,341 displaced persons. The displaced from the Croatian East accounted for 39.6% (83,322 persons), and by its total number made up the majority of the Croatian displaced population. Great-Serbian aggressor has occupied 79% of the settlements in the Croatian East and expelled from them almost half of the total pre-war population (43.1 %), mostly Croats (75,556 persons), Hungarians (3,788), Serbs (1,437), Ruthenians and Ukrainians (931), and other nationalities (1,610). These data reveaJ that the Croatian East has been completelyethnically cleansed of the Croats and for the most part of other non-Serbian population previously inhabiting the area. Other socio-demographic characteristics of the displaced population from the Croatian East mostly do not differ from those established by the 1991 census, which means that renewal and development of the area cannot be guaranteed or accomplished without systematic measures of the state in order to encourage social and economic revitalisation of the region.