Significant Number of Draft-Dodgers Fleeing Yugoslavia to Bosnia AP 20-APR-99 UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- A significant number of draft-dodgers are among the more than 20,000 refugees from Yugoslavia who have streamed across the border into Bosnia-Herzegovina, the U.N. special representative to Bosnia said Tuesday. Elisabeth Rehn had no estimate of the number of draft-dodgers, but she said quite a number of young men crossing into Bosnia have told authorities, "they don't want to be drafted and that is the reason why they are coming." The draft-dodgers include Muslim Slavs, Serbs, and others, she said. Yugoslavia has a draft for males from age 18, but men serve in the reserves until well into middle age and are subject to an annual two-week callup. Under the state of war declared last month, the government has the right to call into military service any male aged 18 to 65. Rehn estimated that between 20,000 and 25,000 Yugoslav refugees are currently in Bosnia, which is still coping with 800,000 displaced people unable to return to their homes. U.N. officials realize that Bosnian Serbs who fled to Yugoslavia during the war in Bosnia may now seek to return to the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia for political and economic reasons, Rehn said. "We have to handle as many as come to avoid being murdered, or drafted into an unjust war by (Yugoslav President Slobodan) Milosevic," said Bosnia's U.N. Ambassador Muhamed Sacirbey. Rehn praised police in the Serb-controlled entity known as Republika Srbska for trying "to keep up law and order." She said it was also "rewarding" that the Interior Ministry responded professionally to ensure the security of the international community in the face of demonstrations, grenade attacks, and the destruction of property. Copyright 1999& The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ================================= Robert F. Tatman [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Remove "nospam" from the address to reply. NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml POSTING THIS MESSAGE TO THE INTERNET DOES NOT IMPLY PERMISSION TO SEND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL E-MAIL (SPAM) TO THIS OR ANY OTHER INTERNET ADDRESS. RECEIPT OF SPAM WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE NOTIFICATION OF THE SENDER'S ISP. ____________________________________________________________________ Get your own FREE, personal Netscape WebMail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com.
