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Forced Displacement and Diaspora Cooperation among Cypriot Maronites and Bosnian Serbs

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Diaspora as Cultures of Cooperation

Part of the book series: Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship ((MDC))

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the interplay between diaspora mobilisation and return home in the aftermath of forced displacement. It investigates the conditions under which diaspora mobilisation can contribute to voluntary peaceful return. Drawing on the experiences of Bosnian Serbs and Cypriot Maronite returnees since the 1993–1995 and 1974 wars respectively, it examines two counter-intuitive attempts at partial reversal of forced displacement. This chapter also sheds light on the local and global networks of cooperation generated by diasporas in exile to advocate and sustain return home, focusing specifically on the importance of trust, exchange, and social capital as manifested in these groups. The chapter demonstrates that community effort resolves coordination and commitment problems, even under conditions of intercommunal fear, mistrust, and economic insecurity.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus was self-proclaimed in 1983; it is recognised only by Turkey, in violation of Security Council Resolution 541, 18 November 1983. For alternative legal interpretations to the status of TRNC, see Necatigil (1983), Loucaides (1995), Chrysostomides (2000), and Yesilada and Sozen (2002).

  2. 2.

    ICG, Bosnia Refugee Logjam Breaks: Is the International Community Ready?, ICG Balkans, Report No. 95, 4–5, 30 May 2000.

  3. 3.

    In addition to Maronites, there are two other constitutionally recognised minorities, Armenians and Latins (non-Maronite Catholics are primarily descendants of Venetians). There are also Roma, particularly among Turkish-Cypriots, as well as a growing number of immigrant groups in the south and post-1974 Turkish settlers in the north. Following 1974, the Turkish government encouraged tens of thousands of mainland Turks to settle in Cyprus. For precise figures, see Loizides and Antoniades (2009).

  4. 4.

    The SDS, the main Bosnia Serb ultra-nationalist party, strongly resisted the Serbian refugees’ desire to return to Drvar, as it hoped to use these people to settle the parts of Republika Srpska from which non-Serbs were cleansed (ICG 1998a: iii)

  5. 5.

    More specifically, SDS (Serbian nationalists) and HDZ (Croat nationalists) focused on consolidation of control over the territories their armies had captured and ethnically cleansed, trying to ‘right people’ the territories under their control by permanently settling ‘their own’ displaced people and preventing the ethnic others from returning. The Bosnian Muslim counterpart, SDA, was formally committed to the returns, but in practice, it promoted Bosniac returns to the territories ‘lost’ during the war, while discouraging the return of Croats and Serbs into Bosniac-controlled areas (ICG 1999: 16)

  6. 6.

    A particularly nice touch was making sure that the roads to villages with Serb returnees were not cleared of snow in the winter (ICG 1999: 14).

  7. 7.

    DP associations played a key role in the return process elsewhere in the country. For example, the Bosniac DP association facilitated return to Zvornik (Dahlman and Toal 2005: 350) and Prijedor (Belloni 2001, 2006, 2008: 163, 181).

  8. 8.

    For the original text of the Dayton Accords see http://peacemaker.un.org/sites/peacemaker.un.org/files/BA_951121_DaytonAgreement.pdf.

  9. 9.

    See https://www.izbori.ba/Documents/documents/English/Laws/Election_Law_of_BiH-eng.pdf.

  10. 10.

    Also son of veteran Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash.

  11. 11.

    Observed by first author during visits to Kormakitis in December 2004 and July 2007; see also Zaman (2005).

  12. 12.

    First author’s field-research notes.

  13. 13.

    Most Maronite residents of Kotsiatis come from Ayia Marina; the second largest Maronite village, now a military camp. Although Asomatos and Karpasha are also military camps, due to the fact that Ayia Marina is heavily armed, and as noted in the text, refugees cannot visit or even enter the village for any purpose, making it inaccessible.

  14. 14.

    Interview with Maro Emmanuel (to the third author), Home of Cooperation, October 2015.

  15. 15.

    For a discussion of the history and politics of settler presence in Cyprus in a comparative perspective, see Haklai and Loizides (2015).

  16. 16.

    Studies (such as Belloni 2008: 170) of Srebernica women show that the mass murder of male community members exacerbates a feeling of vulnerability among surviving female family members.

  17. 17.

    Returns in Bosnia indicate that the easiest returns are to ethnically homogenous villages into which no settlers were brought after the cleansing of original inhabitants (ICG 1999: 8).

  18. 18.

    ‘There seems to be a general rule that, if nobody in the family or neighbourhood died of violence during the war, then returnees are accepted back more easily than if a direct loss was suffered’ (ICG 1999: 7–8).

  19. 19.

    Interview with Parliamentary Representative of the Maronite Community, Antonis Hadjiroussos, 2007.

  20. 20.

    Interview with Maro Emmanuel (to the third author), Home of Cooperation, October 2015.

  21. 21.

    Interview with Parliamentary Representative of the Maronite Community, Antonis Hadjiroussos, 2015.

  22. 22.

    Ethnic intolerance and continued local rule by Serbian ultra-nationalists in Eastern Republika Srpska must also be serious factors for these Bosniac victims of ethnic cleansing.

  23. 23.

    According to ICG, this is how the conservative Bosniac SDA party perceives Bosniac returns to Serb-dominated Republika Srpska (ICG 1999: 16).

  24. 24.

    Yet reserves, according to critics, often fail to resolve major problems or satisfy the needs of Aboriginal communities in North America. Social psychologists are divided on this issue, with those favouring inter-group contact pointing to the benefits of some form of integration at the business, social, or residential level (Wagner et al. 2006).

  25. 25.

    Interview with Maro Emmanuel (to the third author) Home of Cooperation, October 2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kent, UK

    Neophytos Loizides & Danae Elston-Alphas

  2. Halifax, Canada

    Djordje Stefanovic

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  1. Neophytos Loizides
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  2. Djordje Stefanovic
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  3. Danae Elston-Alphas
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Correspondence to Neophytos Loizides .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Norman Paterson School, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

    David Carment

  2. European Ethnology, University of Vienna, Wien, Austria

    Ariane Sadjed

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Loizides, N., Stefanovic, D., Elston-Alphas, D. (2017). Forced Displacement and Diaspora Cooperation among Cypriot Maronites and Bosnian Serbs. In: Carment, D., Sadjed, A. (eds) Diaspora as Cultures of Cooperation. Migration, Diasporas and Citizenship. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32892-8_8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32892-8_8

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