Itt-Ott, 1993 (26. évfolyam, 1. (122.) szám)
1993 / 1. (122.) szám
The Secretary General United Nations New York, NY 10017 [United States] Dear Sir: I have the honor to request your urgent assistance to the endangered Hungarian population of Vojvodina and South Baranya. Though Vojvodina is not a war zone, the ethnic cleansing of its Hungarian population of half a million is already on its way and is not receiving much attention form the international community. The Serbian authorities use intimidation, brutalities, imprisonment and excessive forced drafting into the army as a means of inducing Hungarians to leave their homeland. More than 30,000 men of labor force age have already fled. Hungarians living in mixed areas suffer the daily harassment of the Serbian population. In addition, Serbs fleeing from Bosnia or Croatia are being settled in purely or mainly Hungarian-inhabited areas, thereby preparing the ground for additional conflict. South Baranya, which until 1991 had been populated mainly by Croats and Hungarians, is now under Serbian occupation and was forcibly made part of the self-declared republic of Krajina. A large part of its original population, expelled by force, is waiting in refugee camps, mainly in Hungary, for an opportunity to return home. This however is not possible presently, in spite of the presence of UN forces. When after World Wars I and II the victorious powers detached these and other overwhelmingly Hungarian populated parts of Hungary without permitting the local population to exercise its right to self-determination, the international community guaranteed the safeguarding of their human rights. But those powers, which so willingly separated millions of families from each other, have never lived up to their responsibilities . Aware of your charismatic leadership and of the potential role of the United Nations in creating a world order based on justice and human rights, I ask you in the name of all suffering people to save the Hungarians in the Vojvodina and in South Baranya and in particular to: (a) station UN forces in Vojvodina thus preventing the region from becoming another Bosnia; (b) use all means to prevent the settling of Serbian refugees in Hungarian populated areas; (c) similar to the agreement reached for the Serbian minority in Bosnia, make the autonomy of the Hungarian region in Vojvodina part of the minimum requirements for accepting Serbia again as a member of the UN family; and (d) include the detachment of South Baranya and the Hungarian inhabited villages of Eastern Slavonia from Krajina in the list of objectives to be achieved through the peace negotiations, ensure the safe return to their homes of the population that have lived there before the Serbian occupation and guarantee the right to self-determination of the original (Croatian and Hungarian) population. In the hope that your courage to enforce these minimum requirements will contribute to preparing the basis for a lasting peace in the region, I remain Yours faithfully, 34 ÍTT-0TT 26. évf. (1993), 1. (122.) szám
