The dismemberment of Yugoslavia, accompanied by a civil war in Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, generated an exodus of over two million Serbian refugees who sought shelter in Serbia, Europe and overseas. Some fled to save their lives and those of their children before the horrors of war, while others were cruelly driven out of their homes. In Croatia, for example, ten thousand Serbian houses were blown up, according to the findings of the Croatian Helsinki Committee for Human Rights. Croatia today is ethnically homogenous, having successfully conducted the largest ethnic cleansing of the Yugoslav crisis, reducing the Serbian population there from 650.000 to 100.000 people.

Currently, 705.667 refugees are living in Serbia. 451.124 were registered from May 1991 to July 1995, and 254.498 from August to December 1995. About 12% are not Serbs, but Muslims, Croats, and members of other ethnic groups. About 90% are staying with families, relatives and friends, and only about 10% in 700 collective centers in Serbia. The majority live in poverty, on insufficient domestic budget of their hosts and state aid. The international community seems to have turned a deaf ear to the needs of these refugees who have found temporary shelter in Serbia.