Organised evacuation of the Serbs from Croatia
Despite the Croatian radio broadcasts in which the Croatian president urged the Serb population in the liberated territories to remain in their Croatian homeland, more than 90,000 civilians and 30,000 paramilitary troops left for Bosnia and Serbia in a convoy, in response to the evacuation order given by the Serb separatist leaders, who organised and supervised the exodus in accordance with pre-established plans. Only 10,000 Serbs decided not to leave their homes. As for the majority of the Croatian territory, which was not occupied, more than 100,000 Serbs suffered the same fate as their Croatian fellow citizens throughout the war. In the years that followed, the Croatian Government financed the reconstruction of almost 150,000 homes in devastated areas, which led a part of Croatian Serbs to decide to return home. (Photo: convoy of Serb civilians leaving Croatia and heading to Bosnia, passing through a small Croatian village near Topusko, occupied and destroyed in 1991.)
