GHM: Serbs and Roma in Kosovo
Reply-To: [email protected]
Sender: [email protected]
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, 2 Oct 1999 19:03:34 +0300 (EET DST)
Message-Id: <[email protected]>
Subject: GHM: Serbs and Roma in Kosovo
From: MINELRES moderator <[email protected]>
Original sender: Greek Helsinki Monitor <[email protected]>
GHM: Serbs and Roma in Kosovo
BETA DAILY NEWS
September 13
KOUCHNER SAYS 100,000 SERBS IN KOSOVO. The head of the U.N. civilian
mission in Kosovo, Bernard Kouchner, said on Sept. 11 that 100,000
Serbs remained in the province, which is much more than was initially
estimated, and underlined that the U.N. were firm in their stand to
provide more safety for them and the other minorities.
According to the latest census conducted by KFOR, the population
structure of Kosovo is as follows: 1.4 million Albanians, 97,000
Serbs, and 73,000 members of other minorities, including Turks, Roma,
and Muslims, said Kouchner.
"A multiethnic Kosovo is our goal," Kouchner told reporters, after
submitting his first report on Kosovo to the U.N. Security Council.
------------------
BETA DAILY NEWS
September 8
UNHCR REPORTS 218,638 PEOPLE FLED FROM KOSOVO TO OTHER PARTS OF
YUGOSLAVIA. The latest figures of the UNHCR say that 218,638 people
fled from Kosovo to other parts of Yugoslavia.
BETA learned at the Belgrade office of the UNHCR on Sept. 7 that, of
this number, between 50,000 and 60,000 people, mostly Serbs and
Montenegrins, left Kosovo during the bombing, while the rest left the
province after the international peace forces arrived.
A spokeswoman of the Belgrade office of the UNHCR, Vesna Petkovic,
said that among those are the 3,255 refugees from Bosnia and Croatia
who were temporarily sheltered in the province.
Petkovic said that 177,806 of the displaced found shelter in Serbia,
and 40,832 in Montenegro, adding that this was only an estimate, since
there are 177,079 people in Yugoslavia officially registered as
displaced from Kosovo.
336,919 REFUGEES AND 265,041 DISPLACED PERSONS RETURN TO BOSNIA
FOLLOWING DAYTON. According to information from the UNHCR, 336,919
refugees and 265,041 displaced persons returned to their homes in
Bosnia since the signing of the Dayton accords as of July 31 this
year.
A total of 30,393 refugees and 83,743 displaced persons are Serbs,
62,738 refugees and 17,286 displaced persons are Croatian, 241,274
refugees and 163,388 displaced persons are Muslims, 2,514 refugees and
624 displaced persons belong to "other" ethnic groups.
A total of 22,545 refugees (20,374 Serbian, 1,743 Muslim, 348 Croatian
and 80 others), as well as 78,143 displaced persons (69,674 Serbs,
8,077 Muslims, 371 Croatians and 21 others) returned to Republika
Srpska.
A total of 314,374 refugees (10,019 Serbs, 62,390 Croatians, 239,531
Muslims and 2,434 others), returned to the Bosnian Federation, along
with 186,898 displaced persons (14,069 Serbs, 16,915 Croatians,
155,311 Muslims and 603 others).
------------------
BETA DAILY NEWS
September 7
ROMA ACCUSE KFOR, U.N. OF PROVIDING POOR PROTECTION FOR THEM IN
KOSOVO. Roma organizations have strongly condemned NATO and the U.N.
for not doing enough to protect members of this ethnic minority in
Kosovo.
Roma living in Kosovo cannot count on KFOR, which "has not taken all
the steps necessary to reduce violence and other human rights
violations," said members of the European Center for Roma Rights at a
meeting organized by the OSCE in Vienna on Sept. 6.
Max van der Schtel, a senior official in charge of ethnic minorities,
admitted that "Roma living in Kosovo must now fight for their lives."
According to OSCE and U.N. estimates, there are currently about 10,000
Roma living in the Serbian province, down from 100,000-150,000 before
the war.
------------------
Date: Tue, 14 Sep 1999 19:16:51
CIVIL SOCIETY RESOURCE CENTER'S UPDATE
ON KOSOVO REFUGEES ISSUES
September 14, 1999
As the date when the status of Humanitarian Assisted Person (HAP),
granted to Kosovo refugees sheltered in the Republic of Macedonia
expire, was approaching, the question of their repatriation become
hotter, although exposed on a very low profile. We were trying to
remind the importance of this issue, especially the noncompliance of
an involuntary repatriation with the international standards.
As we informed in a previous update, this status expires on September
28 and the Macedonian government discussed today this important issue.
The most important outcomes from these discussions are that the
government will not allow this status anymore and that no Kosovo
refugee will remain on Macedonian territory after March 28, 2000. The
second point is especially important, showing that the Macedonian
government is willing to allow to remaining refugees to be sheltered
on its territory during the winter time, although plans for an
involuntary repatriation existed. So, we could only welcome this
governmental decision.
We only want to remind that the current governmental decision is based
on its position that conditions for repatriation are fulfuled for
everybody. This position should be shared with relevant international
organisms.
"People are different 'cause have equal rights"
Civil Society Resource Center
Dedicated to promote and protect human rights
tel: +389 91 109 509
fax: +389 91 11 44 12
address: P. Odredi 21 P. Bunjakovec A2/2-4
91000 Skopje
Republic of Macedonia
------------------
balkanhr mailing list
To unsubscribe please send mail to [email protected] with the
word "unsubscribe balkanhr" (without the ") in the body.
Please report abuse at [email protected]
--
==============================================================
MINELRES - a forum for discussion on minorities in Central&Eastern
Europe
Submissions: [email protected]
Subscription/inquiries: [email protected]
List archive: http://www.riga.lv/minelres/archive.htm
==============================================================