Balkan
countries must do more to help Roma, refugees and displaced
people – UN report
28 June 2006 – Balkan countries aspiring
to join the European Union (EU) must do more to help Roma, refugees
and internally displaced persons (IDPs), but assistance must
target the whole community or risk isolating these impoverished
and marginalized groups further, according to a new United Nations
report.
“The importance of inclusive
policy interventions that target the specific needs of the at-risk
group but emphasize an integrative approach is particularly
evident in this region, where - tragically - group identity
has so often been defined along ethnic lines and has helped
to fuel conflict,” UN Development Programme (UNDP) Director
for Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States Kalman
Mizsei said.
The UNDP report - At Risk:
Roma and the Displaced in Southeast Europe - presents for the
first time a wealth of survey data on the situation of Roma,
refugees and IDPs in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina , Bulgaria,
Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro,
Romania, and Serbia, including the UN-administered province
of Kosovo.
Roma are a diverse people,
with an estimated eight million living in Europe. But in all
countries of the region they are among the most likely to live
in absolute poverty, to receive less education, to be shut out
of the job market, to suffer worse health.
The report offers a comprehensive
and statistically rich picture of the problems vulnerable groups
face in the region and puts forward pragmatic, concrete policy
advice on what governments, the international community and
representatives of vulnerable groups themselves can do to break
this vicious cycle of poverty and exclusion.
“This report comes at a key
moment, with Montenegro’s recent emergence as an independent
state, with the future status of Kosovo to be determined, with
Bulgaria and Romania on the cusp of joining the EU,” Mr. Mizsei
said.
“As the future of the Balkans
is being decided we must take the opportunity to address the
needs of the most vulnerable and eradicate these deep pockets
of poverty which threaten the social cohesion of this fragile,
post-conflict region.”
The report does not limit
its analysis to the at-risk groups themselves but also examines
the socioeconomic status of ‘majorities living in close proximity.’
“Exclusion of society’s vulnerable takes place at the local
level, in the constant interaction with other groups. In order
to foster inclusion it is vital that we understand these interactions,”
the report’s lead author Andrey Ivanov said.
“What’s more, the majority
populations living side by side with Roma or displaced groups
often face some of the same risks - examining the overall picture
can outline the common challenges that need to be addressed,”
he added.
Unlike Roma, displaced persons
were not necessarily vulnerable before their displacement in
the Balkans upheaval of the 1990s. Most had property, homes,
jobs and displacement brings a double blow: in addition to becoming
refugees or IDPs, they lose their middle-class status and find
themselves among the most excluded in society.
The report argues that
like the Roma, the displaced need priority attention, and it
underscores the importance of resolving their legal status to
achieve real advances in poverty reduction and overcoming exclusion.
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With
‘steady progress’ in Kosovo, UN envoy calls for early status
decision
20 June 2006 – Citing steady progress
in minority protection and refugee returns in Kosovo, a top
United Nations envoy called today for an early resolution of
the question of the final political status of the Albanian-majority
Serbian province, which has been run by the UN since Western
forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid ethnic fighting.
“I hold that, after seven
years of interim administration in Kosovo, society is ready
– indeed impatient – to move on, and that in fact it would be
a far greater risk to keep Kosovo in limbo for much longer,”
Soren Jessen-Petersen, Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special
Representative for Kosovo, told the Security Council in his
last briefing before stepping down at the end of this month.
Independence and autonomy
are among options that have been mentioned for the final status
of the province, where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others
by 9 to 1. Serbia rejects independence and Kosovo’s Serbs have
been boycotting the province’s local government, a fact Mr.
Annan laments in his latest report on the issue.
Despite this, Mr. Jessen-Petersen
said progress in has been made by the elected leadership, which
had become more dynamic and progressive than ever and had been
far more willing of late to reach out to Kosovo Serbs.
“There is, of course, a need
for still further progress, but if the current momentum continues,
and I am confident it will, we can expect further concrete achievements
in the coming months,” he added.
Further progress is particularly
needed, he said, to encourage Serb engagement in the political
process, despite what he called the “isolationist policy” of
the Government in Belgrade, the Serbian national capital.
“I do not see how they can
make informed choices and decisions about their own future within
Kosovo if they are not even permitted to take part in the democratic
processes there, whether centrally or locally,” he said of the
Serb minority.
Also needing improvement,
he said, was the level of funding to help returning Serbian
refugees to re-establish themselves, which has resulted in a
low level of returns despite the recent signing of a Returns
Protocol between the UN interim administration (UNMIK), Belgrade
and Pristina.
Despite the remaining problems,
however, he expressed hope that province’s status would be determined
by the end of 2006, saying UNMIK, which he heads, has made extraordinary
achievements but “there are now diminishing returns from this
mandate,” and limits to what can be achieved without clarity
on the status issue.
Asked by journalists to specify
those limits and risks in a press conference following his Council
presentation, Mr. Jessen-Petersen said that Kosovars had been
patient with extreme social hardship, including high unemployment,
unpaid pensions, and economic stagnation that would not end
until there was clarity on the status issue.
Such patience could very well
break down if the status process stalled, resulting in a revival
of extreme ethnic tension, he explained.
UNMIK, he said, should support
the status process by preparing for an orderly exit when the
time comes, and preparing Kosovo to experience an orderly transition
to whatever status is decided upon.
The UN mission is not
directly involved in the status dialogue between Kosovo Albanians
and Serbs, which began in Vienna in February under the auspices
of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and has been held about
twice monthly since.
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Top
UN envoy in Kosovo postpones municipal elections for up to one
year
16 June 2006 – The top United Nations
envoy in Kosovo today postponed municipal elections for up to
12 months so that full attention can be devoted to talks to
decide the status of the Albanian-majority Serbian province,
which the UN has run ever since Western forces drove out Yugoslav
troops in 1999 amid grave rights abuses in ethnic fighting.
“I am convinced that the decision
to postpone the elections serves the best interests of all communities
in Kosovo. The postponement will allow for the political focus
on the status talks to be retained,” Secretary-General Kofi
Annan’s Special Representative Soren Jessen-Petersen said.
In his latest report on Kosovo
released just three days ago, Mr. Annan said the parties remained
far apart and compromise was crucial in the talks between Kosovo
Albanians and Serbs which began in Vienna in February under
the auspices of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and have been
held about twice monthly since.
Independence and autonomy
are among options that have been mentioned for the province,
where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1. Serbia
rejects independence and Kosovo’s Serbs have been boycotting
the province’s local government, the so-called ‘Provisional
Institutions.’
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Kosovo:
UN refugee agency remains concerned at persecution risk for
minorities
16 June 2006 – While removing
two Roma communities from the list of people considered at risk
in Kosovo, the United Nations refugee agency remains concerned
for more than 400,000 Serbs, other Roma and Albanians who could
face persecution if they returned to places where they are a
minority in the multi-ethnic Serbian province.
“The fragile security environment
and serious limitations these people face in exercising their
fundamental human rights shows they should continue to be considered
at risk of persecution and should continue to benefit from international
protection in countries of asylum,” UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond told a news briefing
in Geneva.
“Return of these minorities
should be strictly voluntary, based on fully informed individual
decisions,” he added of UNHCR’s latest position paper aimed
at guiding states and others making decisions about whether
people from Kosovo should continue to receive international
protection in an asylum country.
The Ashkaelia and Egyptian
Roma communities were taken off the list thanks to positive
developments within the inter-ethnic environment, but the paper
says their returns should still be approached in a phased manner
due to the limited absorption capacity of Kosovo, where Albanians
outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1.
There are still more than
200,000 refugees and persons of concern to UNHCR from Kosovo
in western European and other countries, with an equal number
of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Serbia, and some 18,000
persons of concern in neighbouring Montenegro.
The report notes that although
the overall security situation in Kosovo has progressively improved
over the past year, it remains fragile and unpredictable. Minorities
continue to suffer from ethnically motivated or criminal incidents.
Many incidents remain unreported as the victims often fear reprisals
from perpetrators.
Serbs and Roma continue to
face serious obstacles in accessing essential services in health,
education, justice and public administration. Discrimination
as well as low representation of minorities in the administrative
structures further discourages minorities from exercising their
basic rights.
The UN has administered
Kosovo ever since North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) forces
drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid grave rights abuses in
ethnic fighting. Talks are now underway to determine its future
status and the return of Serb refugees is seen as a crucial
factor in reaching a decision. Independence and autonomy are
among options that have been mentioned. Serbia rejects independence.
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Kosovo: senior UN official opens talks in
Serbia on refugee returns
14 June 2006 – A senior United Nations official opened talks
in Serbia today on the return of Serb refugees to Kosovo, a
crucial factor in deciding the final status of the Albanian-majority
Serbian province which the world body has run ever since Western
forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid grave rights abuses
in ethnic fighting.
“The purpose of this meeting
was to start an honest and direct dialogue with the leaders
in Belgrade with respect to returns, returnees and property,”
Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Principal Deputy Special Representative
Steven Schook told journalists after the meetings in the Serbian
capital.
“I am very optimistic. We
agreed to have follow-up meetings at the technical level. We
began a sincere dialogue in the best interest of all the displaced
persons and truly in the best interest of the economic development
of Kosovo,” he said of the visit.
The talks followed the signing
last week of an agreement by representatives of the Serbian
and Kosovo Governments to speed up the return of people displaced
by the conflict in the province, where Albanians outnumber Serbs
and others by 9 to 1.
The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
has been seeking to foster communal harmony and promote the
return of the Serbs who fled ever since it started running the
province after North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) military
intervention in 1999. Scores of thousands of Albanians who fled
during the earlier fighting with the Yugoslav army have already
returned.
In his latest report on Kosovo,
released yesterday, Mr. Annan said the parties remained far
apart and compromise was crucial for making progress in the
final status talks. Independence and autonomy are among options
that have been mentioned. Serbia rejects independence and Kosovo’s
Serbs have been boycotting the province’s local government,
the so-called Provisional Institutions.
Mr. Schook conferred with
the President of the Coordination Centre for Kosovo Sanda Raskovic-Ivic,
Foreign Minister Vuk Draskovic, Serbian presidential adviser
Dusan Batakovic, and the political and foreign policy advisers
to the Prime Minister.
Last week’s agreement
seeks to boost returns through provisions that range from affording
access to basic services to promoting integration of internally
displaced persons (IDPs). It acknowledges that a successful
process is based on three elements: ensuring safety of returnees;
returning property to the displaced and rebuilding their houses;
and creating an environment that sustains returns.
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Kosovo:
parties still remain far apart in deciding future status, Annan
reports
13 June 2006 – Despite some progress in talks to decide the
final status of Kosovo, the parties remain far apart and compromise
is crucial, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in his latest
report
on the Albanian-majority Serbian province, which the United
Nations has run since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops
in 1999 amid ethnic fighting.
“I echo the calls made for
both sides to demonstrate flexibility, generosity and a spirit
of compromise in the talks,” he writes of the dialogue between
Kosovo Albanians and Serbs which began in Vienna in February
under the auspices of UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari and
have been held about twice monthly since.
“Though initial positions
will naturally differ, mutually beneficial arrangements can
be found if both sides pursue negotiations in this manner. Without
such an approach, progress will be difficult and neither side
will benefit,” he adds.
Independence and autonomy
are among options that have been mentioned for the province,
where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1. Serbia
rejects independence and Kosovo's Serbs have been boycotting
the province’s local government the ‘Provisional Institutions,’
a fact Mr. Annan laments in the report.
“It is equally essential that
the Kosovo Serbs rejoin the Provisional Institutions at all
levels and actively engage in them,” he writes. “Remaining outside
the Institutions will not bring their communities any benefit,
and in fact negatively affects their ability to bring meaningful
improvements into the lives of their communities.”
He voices concern at reports
of pressure on Kosovo Serbs to withdraw from the Institutions
and calls on Serbia to facilitate, not to hamper, their participation.
As he has in previous reports,
he stresses the need for implementation of the so-called Standards,
eight targets that include building democratic institutions,
enforcing minority rights, creating a functioning economy and
setting up an impartial legal system.
He welcomes efforts by Kosovo’s
new Prime Minister Agim Ceku to accelerate the process, calls
on the Kosovo government to tackle the challenges in their implementation
without delay, and cites the Serbs’ unwillingness to participate
in the Institutions as “an increasing obstacle” to their fulfilment.
“Real progress in this regard
(the Standards) remains an essential factor in determining progress
in the political process to determine Kosovo’s future status,”
he says.
Mr. Annan stresses that
reconciliation remains essential and although all communities
have a role to play in that effort, the principal responsibility
rests with the majority. He welcomes the increased outreach
to minorities, particularly the Serbs, and voices disappointment
that so few of those who fled in the aftermath of the ouster
of Yugoslav troops have so far returned.
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Top
UN envoy in Kosovo announces his decision to quit his post
12 June 2006 – The top United Nations envoy in Kosovo,
Søren Jessen-Petersen, today announced that he will be
leaving his post at the end of this month, saying his time in
the province had given him “a great deal of hope for the
future of Kosovo.”
“After almost two years
on the job, it is time for me to rejoin my family in Washington
DC. I am aware, of course, that I will be departing at an important
moment in the history of Kosovo. I am confident, however, that
the political process leading towards a status decision is on
track,” the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General
(SRSG) was quoted as saying in a press release.
“My frequent trips throughout
Kosovo brought me into contact with many ordinary men, women,
and young people of all ethnicities, and they have given me
a great deal of hope for the future of Kosovo.”
The SRSG, who arrived in Kosovo
on 15 August 2004, served longer than any of his predecessors
in the position. During the last two years Kosovo was judged
by the Security Council to have made sufficient progress for
the process to determine the province’s status to be launched.
Last week, representatives
of the Serbian and Kosovo Governments signed an agreement to
speed up the return of people displaced by ethnic conflict in
the Serbian province, which the United Nations has administered
ever since Western forces drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999
amid grave human rights abuses.
Mr. Jessen-Petersen, who signed
the accord on behalf of the UN, said it proved that despite
differences on various issues, “there is a will to cooperate
to end the situation of displacement while duly respecting the
right of the internally displaced to return to their homes and
to freely choose their places of residence.”
The UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
has been seeking to foster communal harmony and promote the
return of Serbs who fled ever since it started running the province
after the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) military intervention.
Most Albanians who had fled during the earlier fighting with
the Yugoslav army have already returned.
“It has been a
privilege and an honour for me to work with and for the people
of Kosovo,” the SRSG said in today’s press release.
“I am very grateful for the support of my partners, including
the institutional leaders, party and religious leaders from
all communities, local leaders, women leaders, and many, many
others.”
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Montenegro,
world’s newest country, to get UN help with refugee problem
6 June 2006 – With the world’s youngest country, Montenegro,
still saddled with thousands of refugees and internally displaced
persons (IDPs) from its former union with Serbia, victims of
the various Balkan conflicts of the 1990s, the United Nations
refugee agency has pledged continuing help in providing protection
and assistance.
Today, there are more than
8,000 refugees, mainly from Bosnia and Croatia, together with
nearly 18,000 people from Kosovo who were classified as IDPs
while Montenegro was still in a union with Serbia.
“Many need continuing assistance
and protection, especially those displaced from neighbouring
Kosovo,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman
Ron Redmond told a news briefing in Geneva today. “These IDPs
are mainly ethnic Serbian or members of the Roma community and
are unable to return to their homes.”
The deputy director of the
UNHCR’s Europe Bureau, Udo Janz, discussed the issue with senior
officials during a visit last week shortly after the province
voted for independence, and pledged to help the new Government
find durable solutions for these groups and to design and establish
a national asylum system.
In the mid-1990s, Montenegro
hosted nearly 30,000 refugees from Bosnia and Croatia. In 1999,
during the Kosovo crisis, a further 28,000 IDPs fled to Montenegro,
which has a population of just 650,000 people.
The governments of Croatia,
Bosnia, and Serbia and Montenegro agreed in January last year
to try and solve their refugee problems by the end of 2006,
either through voluntary repatriation or local integration in
the countries of asylum.
“We hope this deadline will
be met,” Mr. Redmond said. “At the same time, we believe continuing
talks under UN auspices on the final status of Kosovo should
also seek a solution for the tens of thousands of IDPs from
that province,” he added, referring to the Albanian-majority
Serbian province, which the UN has run ever since Western forces
drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid grave human rights abuses
in ethnic fighting.
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Serbia, Kosovo and
UN sign accord to promote return of displaced
6 June 2006 – Representatives of the Serbian and Kosovo Governments
today signed an agreement to speed up the return of people displaced
by ethnic conflict in the Serbian province, which the United
Nations has administered ever since Western forces drove out
Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid grave human rights abuses.
“The Protocol confirms that
in spite of differences on various issues, there is a will to
cooperate to end the situation of displacement while duly respecting
the right of the internally displaced to return to their homes
and to freely choose their places of residence,” Secretary-General
Kofi Annan’s Special Representative Soren Jessen-Petersen said,
signing the accord on behalf of the UN.
The accord, a necessary step
on the way to deciding the final status of the province where
Albanians outnumber Serbs and others by 9 to 1, and from which
many Serbs fled, “shows that we are all committed to put the
rights of the displaced persons on the forefront,” he added.
The Protocol seeks to boost
returns through provisions that range from affording access
to basic services to promoting integration of internally displaced
persons (IDPs). It acknowledges that a successful process is
based on three elements: ensuring safety of returnees; returning
property to the displaced and rebuilding their houses; and creating
an environment that sustains returns.
The UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
has been seeking to foster communal harmony and promote the
return of Serbs who fled ever since it started running the province
after the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO) military intervention
in 1999. Most Albanians who had fled during the earlier fighting
with the Yugoslav army have already returned.
Direct talks between the Kosovo
and Serbian sides began in February in Vienna under the auspices
of Mr. Annan's Special Envoy for the future status of the province,
Martti Ahtisaari.
Independence and autonomy
are among options mentioned but Serbia rejects independence
and Kosovo’s Serbs have been boycotting the province’s provisional
institutions. Significant differences so far have emerged on
issues of decentralization, just one of many issues on the table.
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Kosovo: UN envoy calls on donors to fund return of those displaced
by conflict
5 June 2006 – The top United Nations envoy in Kosovo is calling
on donors to fund the return of refugees and internally displaced
persons (IDPs), a vital step in ensuring stability in the Albanian-majority
Serbian province that the UN has run ever since Western forces
drove out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid grave rights abuses in
ethnic fighting.
“Let us not fail because of
lack of financial support,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special
Representative, Soren Jessen-Petersen, said over the weekend
during a visit to Istog/k Municipality where he met Kosovo Serb
returnees and pledged to get personally engaged in mobilizing
support from donors for the returns process.
“What I find deeply regrettable,
is that we cannot find the resources so that the return becomes
sustainable, so that the people of Istog/k, the Albanians as
well, feel that they are benefiting from Standards implementation,”
he added, referring to eight targets that include building democratic
institutions and enforcing minority rights and setting up an
impartial legal system.
“If we don’t even get enough
resources from donors to help 200 returnees, what will happen
if after status tens of thousands start coming back,” he said
of the talks currently underway to determine the future status
of the province, where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others
by 9 to 1.
Independence and autonomy
are among options mentioned but Serbia rejects independence
and Kosovo’s Serbs have been boycotting the province’s provisional
institutions. Significant differences in the status talks so
far have emerged on issues of decentralization, just one of
many issues on the table.
The UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
has been seeking to foster communal harmony and promote the
return of Serbs who fled ever since it took over the administration
after the NATO military intervention in 1999.
Meeting with Istog/k municipal
authorities, Mr. Jessen-Petersen appreciated their support for
the returns and noted that all round progress had been made.
“Istog/k ranks as one of the four best municipalities on Standards
implementation, but we have to continue to do better,” he said.
“The example being set here could be and should be the example
we are all working on.”
He stressed that no
society can move forward if it is divided. “We need a society
where there is coexistence, a society that is well integrated,”
he said, voicing satisfaction at the encouraging pace of returns
in Istog/k, where 66 displaced persons have returned so far
this year. “I want to encourage the Kosovo Serbs who have come
back, to move around, trust your neighbours and encourage your
friends to come back,” he declared.
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Kosovo: UN hails moves to boost returns of
people displaced by conflict
1 June 2006 – The top United Nations envoy in Kosovo today
hailed moves to speed up the return of both refugees and internally
displaced persons (IDPs), an essential step on the path to deciding
the final status of the Albanian-majority Serbian province,
which the world body has run ever since Western forces drove
out Yugoslav troops in 1999 amid grave rights abuses in ethnic
fighting.
“These initiatives bode
well for furthering the process of returns, which is a keystone
of a multi-ethnic Kosovo that everyone wants,” Secretary-General
Kofi Annan’s Special Representative Søren Jessen-Petersen
said of the Albanian-led Kosovo Government’s updated return
policies and procedures.
These aim to increase IDP
access to aid, simplify the steps for return and delivery of
social services for returnees, strengthen protection mechanisms
for minority returnees against discrimination, and incorporate
return needs in municipal and central development and budget
planning in a province where Albanians outnumber Serbs and others
by 9 to 1.
“The new returns policy
shows the commitment and seriousness of the Government of Kosovo
towards ensuring return of more and more displaced persons and
allowing them to make a free and informed choice about the return
options available to each individual,” Mr. Jessen-Petersen
said.
“I am sure that this
will go a long way in convincing members of the minority community
that their future is secure in a democratic Kosovo, bound by
international conventions on human rights and the protection
of minorities,” he added.
Mr. Jessen-Petersen also welcomed
the agreement of the Kosovo and Serbian Governments to cooperate
more closely in the return of displaced persons to Kosovo.
“The agreement reached
in the Protocol will allow greater technical cooperation at
municipality levels and this is where the real efforts for sustainable
returns must rest,” he said.
The UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
has been seeking to foster communal harmony and promote the
return of Serbs who fled ever since it took over the administration
of the province after the North Atlantic Treaty Alliance (NATO)
military intervention in 1999.
Direct talks between
the Kosovo and Serbian sides began in February in Vienna under
the auspices of Mr. Annan's Special Envoy for the future status
of the province, Martti Ahtisaari. Independence and autonomy
are among options mentioned but Serbia rejects independence
and Kosovo’s Serbs have been boycotting the province’s
provisional institutions. Significant differences so far have
emerged on issues of decentralization, just one of many issues
on the table.
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