Robert Kajušić, as a twelve-year-old, was injured by a mine left over from the war. He lost his right fist and permanently lost his sight. In Croatia, since 1991 until today, some 2.000 persons have been injured by mines. Some 500 people died and those who survived live with serious physical injuries. Some 900 km² are yet to be de-mined.
Robert Kajušić, born on August 7, 1989, at the age of twelve, found mines while playing with his friends. He was hurt while playing with a rifle grenade. The grenade exploded and Robert lost his right fist and permanently his sight. He spent 3.5 months in a hospital and after that he was in rehabilitation. He finished an orientation training for blind persons.
He has sought no form of reparations, except for filing a request for the recognition of civilian victim of war status. He waited for the status for two years. The status ensured him welfare rights to disability pension in the amount of 4,000.00 kuna per month for the rest of his life, as well as to house care and aid and to an orthopaedic support device.
In the Republic of Croatia, since 1991, some 2,000 persons have been injured. Some 500 have been killed and those who survived live with serious physical injuries. Some 900 km² of the Republic of Croatia territory are yet to be de-mined. A large number of persons was injured in the period after the war, and the most dangerous mined areas are in Sisak-Moslavina and Vukovar-Srijem county.
The Republic of Croatia has not yet adopted a legal solution for the status of civilian victims of mines, although it is a signatory of the Ottawa Convention and the 2008 Oslo Convention, which considers victims as persons and entire communities who necessarily need rehabilitation, reintegration and reparations.
We advocate for speeding up the de-mining process, as well as for ensuring quality support to mine victims and their families, especially in the filed of psychosocial reintegration and rehabilitation of children victims of mines.