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UN Observer
October 23, 2008
Kosovo Roma Diaspora Statement
Statement of the Kosovo Roma Diaspora on the occasion
of the "International Roundtable on Roma, Ashakli and
Egyptians of Kosovo: Challenges and Prospects of
Sustainable Integration"
22 October 2008 - We, representatives of the Kosovo
Roma Diaspora, would like to express our disagreement
with the organisation of an international roundtable
on the integration of Roma from Kosovo by the Project
on Ethnic Relations in cooperation with the
OSCE/ODIHR.
We believe that this conference, which is taking place
today at the headquarters of the OSCE in Vienna, has
no other purpose than to set the basis for the
forthcoming forced return of several ten thousand Roma
refugees to Kosovo.
In June 1999, the international community, including
KFOR and the OSCE, did nothing to prevent the violent
expulsion of ten thousands of Roma from their homes in
Kosovo and the destruction of their properties.
In ten years, the international community did hardly
anything to allow the return of the internally
displaced Roma in Kosovo, leaving people knowingly in
situations which are harmful to their lives (see the
situation of the internally displaced in Kosovska
Mitrovica).
Asylum applications of Kosovo Roma were rejected on no
grounds. Asylum application procedures such as those
in Macedonia were denounced as flawed and unfair,
including by the EU Commission and the US government,
with no consequence for the treatment of those who had
become victims of these discriminatory practices.
Despite the ban of the UNHCR, Kosovo Roma have been
subjected to pressure to either leave their host
country voluntarily or to be forcibly returned to
Kosovo. There have been, throughout these years,
attempts to deport Roma to Kosovo, some of them
stopped, in the last minute, by UNMIK. In other cases,
Kosovo Roma were deported to Serbia.
With the imminent declaration of independence and as a
price to pay for it, the Kosovo government adopted, in
October last year, a strategy for the reintegration of
the returnees. It goes out from this document, which
was obviously drafted with heavy input of the
international community, if not entirely masterminded
by it, that the Roma as an ethnic group are the main
target of forced repatriations.
The UNHCR currently withholds a new position on the
continued need for protection of individuals from
Kosovo.
Countries such as Switzerland have recently announced
that they will start returning minorities including
Roma to Kosovo next year.
In other countries such as Sweden, there has been an
increase in negative decisions by tribunals, awakening
fears of forced deportations also from these
countries. The German "Bleiberechtsregelu ng" offers
only limited opportunities for the regularisation of
Kosovo Roma refugees, leaving more than 20,000 people
with the threat of a being forcibly deported.
The Kosovo government has recently issued a draft
strategy for the integration of Roma, Ashkali and
Kosovo Egyptians.
This strategy belies the fact that Roma in Kosovo were
well integrated before the war. It also belies the
fact that Roma were comparatively well-off, sometimes
even better off than their Albanian neighbours. We
fail to see in this document any recognition of the
crimes committed against Kosovo Roma for which no
compensation was ever offered. We fail to see any
recognition of the ongoing discrimination and violence
against Roma in Kosovo.
We noticed that we have not even been included in the
Kosovo constitution as a people of Kosovo. Our
language is not recognized on the same level as
Albanian and Serbian. We have no guaranteed political
representation at the local level in spite of the
enhanced powers of the local institutions. On central
level, we are guaranteed one representative while our
community was once the third largest in Kosovo.
The meeting in Vienna comes at a moment when all the
major decisions have already been taken. Some
hand-picked individuals are called in to give their
agreement – in the name of whom? – to a strategy
decided by others, a strategy which implies a
discretionary decision over the lives of several tens
of thousands of people, a strategy which implies
acknowledging injustice and creating new injustice, a
strategy which implies driving a whole people into
misery.
We ask, who decided about this meeting and who set up
the agenda?
We are not aware of any consultation with the
Diaspora.
Instead, the information was circulated almost
secretly and in a language which most of us do not
understand.
Only a few days before the conference, the
(provisional? ) list of invitees was made available. We
realise that the majority of the representatives in
this meeting are representatives of international
organisations or national governments. Have they been
consulted with, when the agenda was drafted, or how
will they be able to participate in the debate?
We want to have a discussion and we do have issues to
discuss. This concerns in first place the denial of
asylum to Kosovo Roma. This concerns our exclusion
from political processes including the status
negotiations and the drafting of a constitution. This
also concerns the issue of compensation. It finally
concerns the bringing to justice of war criminals.
We expect from the OSCE/ODIHR to facilitate the
creation of a permanent forum of Kosovo Roma
representatives which would have the means to start
consultations among its constituency on issues such as
refugee returns. It should also have the means to
compile and analyse information such as war crimes,
property returns, etc..
Only then can we start to talk about a real dialogue.
We are deeply ashamed and outraged by the fact of
being treated as a social under-class and outcasts
whose destiny is left at the hands of some NGOs who
act as the henchmen of Western governments and line
their pockets on our backs. We have lived in Kosovo
for more than 600 years. We request the same respect
as is given to other people from Kosovo.
We call on our brothers and sisters who are present at
this meeting to abstain from any decision which will
put them at odds with their own people. We ask them to
watch and listen carefully and to report back to their
constituency, because the final vote belongs only to
those who are actually concerned.
Signatories:
Murat Haliti, Romano Them
Brahim Music, Ternikano Berno
Muharem Gasnjani, Committee of the Kosovo Roma,
Egyptian and Askhali Refugees in Macedonia
Imer Kajtazi, Romano Dzuvdipe, URYD Belgium
Mifailj Osmani, Amalipe Rom Nevo Dive/ URYD Switzerland
Nedzo Nezirin, URYD France
UN Observer
October 23, 2008
Kosovo Roma Diaspora Statement
Statement of the Kosovo Roma Diaspora on the occasion
of the "International Roundtable on Roma, Ashakli and
Egyptians of Kosovo: Challenges and Prospects of
Sustainable Integration"
22 October 2008 - We, representatives of the Kosovo
Roma Diaspora, would like to express our disagreement
with the organisation of an international roundtable
on the integration of Roma from Kosovo by the Project
on Ethnic Relations in cooperation with the
OSCE/ODIHR.
We believe that this conference, which is taking place
today at the headquarters of the OSCE in Vienna, has
no other purpose than to set the basis for the
forthcoming forced return of several ten thousand Roma
refugees to Kosovo.
In June 1999, the international community, including
KFOR and the OSCE, did nothing to prevent the violent
expulsion of ten thousands of Roma from their homes in
Kosovo and the destruction of their properties.
In ten years, the international community did hardly
anything to allow the return of the internally
displaced Roma in Kosovo, leaving people knowingly in
situations which are harmful to their lives (see the
situation of the internally displaced in Kosovska
Mitrovica).
Asylum applications of Kosovo Roma were rejected on no
grounds. Asylum application procedures such as those
in Macedonia were denounced as flawed and unfair,
including by the EU Commission and the US government,
with no consequence for the treatment of those who had
become victims of these discriminatory practices.
Despite the ban of the UNHCR, Kosovo Roma have been
subjected to pressure to either leave their host
country voluntarily or to be forcibly returned to
Kosovo. There have been, throughout these years,
attempts to deport Roma to Kosovo, some of them
stopped, in the last minute, by UNMIK. In other cases,
Kosovo Roma were deported to Serbia.
With the imminent declaration of independence and as a
price to pay for it, the Kosovo government adopted, in
October last year, a strategy for the reintegration of
the returnees. It goes out from this document, which
was obviously drafted with heavy input of the
international community, if not entirely masterminded
by it, that the Roma as an ethnic group are the main
target of forced repatriations.
The UNHCR currently withholds a new position on the
continued need for protection of individuals from
Kosovo.
Countries such as Switzerland have recently announced
that they will start returning minorities including
Roma to Kosovo next year.
In other countries such as Sweden, there has been an
increase in negative decisions by tribunals, awakening
fears of forced deportations also from these
countries. The German "Bleiberechtsregelu ng" offers
only limited opportunities for the regularisation of
Kosovo Roma refugees, leaving more than 20,000 people
with the threat of a being forcibly deported.
The Kosovo government has recently issued a draft
strategy for the integration of Roma, Ashkali and
Kosovo Egyptians.
This strategy belies the fact that Roma in Kosovo were
well integrated before the war. It also belies the
fact that Roma were comparatively well-off, sometimes
even better off than their Albanian neighbours. We
fail to see in this document any recognition of the
crimes committed against Kosovo Roma for which no
compensation was ever offered. We fail to see any
recognition of the ongoing discrimination and violence
against Roma in Kosovo.
We noticed that we have not even been included in the
Kosovo constitution as a people of Kosovo. Our
language is not recognized on the same level as
Albanian and Serbian. We have no guaranteed political
representation at the local level in spite of the
enhanced powers of the local institutions. On central
level, we are guaranteed one representative while our
community was once the third largest in Kosovo.
The meeting in Vienna comes at a moment when all the
major decisions have already been taken. Some
hand-picked individuals are called in to give their
agreement – in the name of whom? – to a strategy
decided by others, a strategy which implies a
discretionary decision over the lives of several tens
of thousands of people, a strategy which implies
acknowledging injustice and creating new injustice, a
strategy which implies driving a whole people into
misery.
We ask, who decided about this meeting and who set up
the agenda?
We are not aware of any consultation with the
Diaspora.
Instead, the information was circulated almost
secretly and in a language which most of us do not
understand.
Only a few days before the conference, the
(provisional? ) list of invitees was made available. We
realise that the majority of the representatives in
this meeting are representatives of international
organisations or national governments. Have they been
consulted with, when the agenda was drafted, or how
will they be able to participate in the debate?
We want to have a discussion and we do have issues to
discuss. This concerns in first place the denial of
asylum to Kosovo Roma. This concerns our exclusion
from political processes including the status
negotiations and the drafting of a constitution. This
also concerns the issue of compensation. It finally
concerns the bringing to justice of war criminals.
We expect from the OSCE/ODIHR to facilitate the
creation of a permanent forum of Kosovo Roma
representatives which would have the means to start
consultations among its constituency on issues such as
refugee returns. It should also have the means to
compile and analyse information such as war crimes,
property returns, etc..
Only then can we start to talk about a real dialogue.
We are deeply ashamed and outraged by the fact of
being treated as a social under-class and outcasts
whose destiny is left at the hands of some NGOs who
act as the henchmen of Western governments and line
their pockets on our backs. We have lived in Kosovo
for more than 600 years. We request the same respect
as is given to other people from Kosovo.
We call on our brothers and sisters who are present at
this meeting to abstain from any decision which will
put them at odds with their own people. We ask them to
watch and listen carefully and to report back to their
constituency, because the final vote belongs only to
those who are actually concerned.
Signatories:
Murat Haliti, Romano Them
Brahim Music, Ternikano Berno
Muharem Gasnjani, Committee of the Kosovo Roma,
Egyptian and Askhali Refugees in Macedonia
Imer Kajtazi, Romano Dzuvdipe, URYD Belgium
Mifailj Osmani, Amalipe Rom Nevo Dive/ URYD Switzerland
Nedzo Nezirin, URYD France