The Popovic family's temporary shelter just outside of Belgrade. It costs them  $60 a month, which they can only afford because relatives in Germany regularly send them money.

Since 1995 the Popovic family and thousands of other Serbs have been in exile. In Milosevic's country, those expelled from Krajina are tolerated, but they are not exactly welcome.

New political developments in Croatia encourage hopes for  a return to the homeland soon.

00.31

I/V

Nebosa Popvic - Serbian refugee

I was a farmer - I owned a house and some land. Now I'm practically on the street.I want to go back as soon as we can. I'd rather live in my own house - even if it is half destroyed - than in this dump.

01.03

This was the scene in August 1995. A never-ending stream of refugees moves towards Serbia. Croatian troops have re-conquered Krajina and the war between Croats and Serbs has stopped for the time being. Two hundred thousand Serbs have to leave their Croatian homes, but there is little international protest.

01:24

February 2000. In the office of this human rights' organisation in Belgrade, refugees wait for immigration papers to return to Croatia. This is the only place they can obtain a passport - they have no rights to Yugoslavian papers. The Popovic family  hopes to begin their journey back in a few weeks.

01:42

I/V

Dalibor Popovic - Serbian refugee

‘I've put in my application. I will try to get a passport and other documents in Croatia. I want to do my military service there, and if possible, stay there for good.

01:56

Back to the former war scene in Jagodnja, the Popovic family's village in Croatia.

02.08

This is our first impression - the village is deserted and most of the houses destroyed. The Croatian military and civilian population have carried out acts of revenge on Serbian  property..

02.20

We find signs of life in this hovel.

02:28

The old woman is a Serb who returned a few months ago. She tells us that a total of around 30 people have moved back into the village - mostly elderly people.

02.38

I/V

Danca Cupic

Popovic? No, I don't know that name - Oh. hang on a minute - there is a Popovic, but he lived at the other end of the village...

02:53

A neighbour comes to see what is happening. Visitors are a rare sight in the village nowadays - especially a television team. She complains about how difficult life is - many houses are without electricity, and they get very little help. But she is pleased to hear about the Popovic family.

03:09

Marta Redic

Nebojsa - I know him - we're related. He's my aunt's son

03:20

We are not the only visitors today. A Serb from the village is living as a refugee near Zadar, and he plans to return in a few weeks. Today he is taking a look around Jagodnja. He takes us to the Popovic' home, which is at the end of the long village.

03:40

The same scene greets us here. The large farm now lays in ruins. The house and stables are ramshackle, and the field is still full of landmines.

03:56

We ask the Serb whether he thinks that the Popovic family should really return.

04:10

I/V Serbian refugee

Of course - this is their property and they should all come back. Of course if something bad happened here it might be different - politics have also played a part in it.

04:24

Like many other villages in Krajina, Jogodnja has become a kind of ghost town. In the area where the Croatian-Serbian frontline once was, just a few kilometres away from the Dalmatian coast, times seems to have stood still.

For five years nothing has happened here.

04.40

The new Croatian government wants to fulfil all Western demands - that all exiled people should be allowed to return safely.

2 kilometres away from Jagodnja is Paloca, a purely Croatian village. In 1991 the Croats were driven out by the Serbs, and were only able to return five years after their flight.

The war has certainly not been forgotten here, and rebuilding of homes and lives has only just begun.

We ask the Croats in Paloca whether they can imagine the Popovic family and other Serbs - not just elderly ones - returning to Jagodnja.

05:16

I/V

Sime Bobanovic - Croat

I would never  allow them to come back. What have all these lives been lost for? No-one talks about Croatian Vukovar anymore, where so many were killed!

05:31

The issue clearly brings back a lot of emotion and memories....Expulsions were violent on both sides.

05:36

I/V

Vinka Perajic

No way should they return. They've destroyed and burned down everything. They' ve murdered our young men, our children, brothers, sisters and parents....

05:50

Back to Belgrade. Serb refugee Popovic visits the film crew's office in the Yugoslavian capital. One of our team, Zoran Opra, shows him a video of the film we shot in Jagodnja and the neighbouring Croatian village.

06:05

It's the first time in five years that Mr Popovic has seen any pictures of his hometown

06:25

He sees the destruction, his former neighbours, and listens to what both Serbs and Croats have to say about his family's return.

06:40

I/V

Nebojsa Popovic

It's not how I imagined it at all.

The pain and misery that my Croatian neighbours had to go through when I left is something I lived through with them. I didn't expect their reactions to be exactly positive, but I really hadn't expected them to be so resentful. And the village looks even more desolate than I imagined.

Just as much damage was done to Serbs in the village of Jagodnja as was done to Croats in the village of Paloca.  I still want to go home, but it will be impossible to return to this wasteland without any financial help.

07:32

Fear and mistrust reign on both sides. The traces of the war in Krajina are still clearly visible. Serbs and Croats will evidently need a lot of persuasion before they can even think about making a new start. These are going to be tough years for the new Croatia.

Report: Klaus Hipfl, Zoran Opra

Camera: Drazen Simic

Edit: Ingrid Hölzl

Speaker: Mathias Euba