SARAJEVO, Bosnia-Herzegovina — Sprawled on the floor of the Bjelave Home for Children, the boys and girls watch Donald Duck cartoons in German. Their coloring books tell them that Der Hund hat Hunger--the dog is hungry.
But in an instant the children switch to the local language--or try to, at least--answering questions of visiting Bosnian television crews and responding to orphanage officials.
At the start of a long and brutal war, more than 30 Bosnian children were evacuated to Germany from Sarajevo, the capital. Earlier this month, they were sent home amid much of the same controversy that accompanied their removal nearly five years ago.
Are the best interests of the children being considered, or are the political and public relations interests of governments and Western do-gooders taking precedence?
Once the war ended about a year ago, Bosnian officials insisted on bringing the children back to their native country because as Bosnians, they belonged in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Some of the Germans involved in the original evacuation objected and asserted that the children were being used as a gimmick to encourage the repatriation of other Bosnian refugees in Germany.
German officials have announced their intention to send most of Germany's estimated 300,000 Bosnian refugees back to their home country, even though many are Muslims whose homes now lie in Serb-controlled territory. About 100 people have been deported thus far, and Germany has been criticized for sometimes heavy-handed tactics in rounding up the deportees. Panic has set in among many of the Bosnians.
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The children were a special case. Although labeled as orphans, some of the children have a living parent or other relative in Bosnia, Bosnian officials say. They came from dysfunctional families or were placed in Bosnian state orphanages for safety when the war broke out.
"We had a dilemma about whether to bring them back," conceded Amir Zelic, director of the Bjelave home. "The standard of living is much higher in Germany--every fool knows that. But it has nothing to do with standards of living. In Germany, these kids would always be Auslaender [foreigners]. This is their homeland. Every country bases its future on its children. I can't see why we should be any different."
Bosnia is also trying to regain custody of 46 orphans in Italy, Zelic said. There, however, many of the children are in foster homes, and the Italians are fighting to keep them. Bosnian law does not permit foreign adoptions.
