UNMIK/PR/730
Tuesday 7 May 2002
SRSG Michael Steiner :

Address to donors' briefing on returns

SRSG Michael Steiner delivered the opening address to a donors' briefing on returns held today in Pristina under the auspices of UNMIK's Office of Returns and Communities and UNHCR. The full text of his speech follows:

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For good reason, I want to concentrate today on one single issue. That issue is the individual right to return.

Returns are about individuals and families. They are about reclaiming homes and reclaiming property. And they are about living in safety and dignity, and fully participating in society.

So far, roughly 3.500 non-Albanians have returned to Kosovo. Yet, still, Serbs and other minorities continue to leave. There is a net loss, rather than a net gain.

We must reverse this trend and we must achieve breakthroughs in minority returns during the summer and autumn of 2002. We must build momentum for more significant numbers of returns during 2003 and 2004.

We must build a critical mass which reverses the perception in the minds of those who wish to return. To make them confident rather than fearful.
My concept for making this happen is based on three key elements: rights, individual choice and sustainability.

I. Rights

Fundamental human rights are why we are here in Kosovo. The gross abuse of human rights was the reason we got involved here in the first place. We intervened to stop Milosevic and to end the repression of the Albanian population. Under Milosevic, Kosovo's Albanians were denied access to education and jobs and public services. They were deprived of political representation. And, finally, they were forced out of their homes.

The rapid return of those refugees who fled during the spring of '99 continues to be one of our greatest achievements here in Kosovo.

There will be no return to the status quo ante. But we cannot allow the former oppressed to pay back in kind. It is a fact that the Serbs of Kosovo still do not have full freedom of movement. They cannot access their houses and their land. And they do not feel safe in Kosovo. Respect for the right of Serbs and other minorities to return, and to remain, is a key benchmark for the development of Kosovo society. And for entry into Europe.

II. Individual choice

The right of return is first and foremost an individual right, a choice of an individual or of a family. Concepts of return that are politically driven are bound to fail.

Surveys carried out among displaced persons in Serbia show that people are not interested in returning to locations other than their original homes. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, there are even cases of artificial settlements that were built for Bosnian Croats and that have already turned into ghost towns. Politically motivated returns are also likely to backfire on the returnees and to put them at physical risk.

Our whole approach must be built on the voluntary and informed choice of a displaced individual or family to come back home. People must be able to assess for themselves the situation on the ground.

Key to this are the people who are already here or have returned. The job of UNMIK and of local authorities is to provide access to that information, and to create the conditions on the ground for returns.

It is not our job to decide where returns should take place. The selection of return locations must be based on an expressed wish by displaced persons, rather than on political considerations.

III. Sustainability

We need to make sure that the individuals and families that decide to return will also remain here in Kosovo. Realistically, people will only want to return if they can live in peace and participate fully in society. They must have access to basic services: equal access to education, health care, social benefits and public utilities. They must be able to move freely. And they must be able to repossess their houses and land. Security is more than physical safety: it is a place to live, it is a job, it is an income, and it is normal relations with neighbours.

To create conditions for sustainable returns, we will need the full support of the Kosovo institutions.

I have laid out two tracks to the future: multi-ethnicity and integration. Both communities must shoulder the responsibility for the future of Kosovo. There will be no multi-ethnicity without integration. But there will also be no integration without multi-ethnicity.

We have offered the Kosovo Serbs the opportunity to drive the process of returns themselves. Coalition Povratak will soon have their official representatives working on returns within the Government and in my office.

The Government has, on its own initiative, made returns of displaced persons an integral part of its programme.

IV. Donor support

With these developments, we have a chance to achieve the breakthrough in returns that we need. To those who doubt whether returns can work, I want to say firmly: they can. In Bosnia, there have been well over 200.000 minority returns. Including to the most hard-line municipalities. More than 8.000 Croats have returned to Bugojno, more than 8.000 Bosniaks to Prijedor, and almost 6.000 Serbs to Drvar.

But to make returns work I must ask for your help. Building the critical mass here in Kosovo will depend upon the messages that the displaced persons get from those that have returned. They must believe that we are serious. And to be serious, we must provide shelter and services quickly. This requires money.

When the returns start, on the basis of our integrated approach, we need to be sure that there will be money to follow the returnees. As flexibly as possible. Only this way can we achieve sustainable returns.

It will not happen overnight. But returns are slowly starting in the Pec region. They are starting in Pristina and Mitrovica and Gnjilane and Prizren. Work is ongoing on the local level to develop priority returns projects. My colleagues from the regions will introduce the potential locations and specific returns projects.

Returns are not nice to have. They are something that we must achieve. If you are serious about building a multi-ethnic and sustainable society in Kosovo, if you are serious about regional stability, you must also be serious about returns.

We cannot afford not to afford returns.