UNMIK ON AIR

21 May 2003

Snezana returns to Prishtina

(Andrea Saula)

Hello and welcome to UNMIK ON AIR with Sputnik Kilambi and Mary Ferreira.

Snezana Borzanovic has been living with memories of Kosovo since she was displaced by the 1999 conflict. For the last four years, she’s been writing her memoirs in Belgrade, hoping, praying for help to return home. But home is Prishtina, still a sensitive location, if not a no-go area for would be Serb returnees.

Prishtina was where Snezana was born and bred. A mother of two, she worked for years in the gynaecological department of Prishtina hospital. She now just about manages to make ends meet on a meagre pension, the reward for years of hard work.

Tired of waiting for help from refugee agencies, Snezana decided to pack her belongings and make the trip to Pristina.

Snezana Borzanovic: I appealed to the coordination centre for help. They told me no, it is not time yet; then I insisted, and kept going back there. Why would somebody force me to live somewhere if I didn’t want that and at the same time not allow me to live in my own place? And I’m not the only one. Many people want to return, but unfortunately they cant cope with it. They all want to come, but all doors are closed for us. We don’t know whom to speak with.

After many attempts, it was thanks to UNHCR, that she finally found accommodation in a Serb-owned apartment in Pristina for six months. As UNHCR official Mishko Mimica explains, Snezana is the Serb to return to Prishtina even though she was denied access to her own flat. And he adds, it takes a certain amount of courage, since no Serbs live in Snezana’s new neighbourhood.

Mishko Mimica: She actually believed that she could return based on her relationship with her Albanian neighbours from before the war. When she went to her flat, she realised she didn’t know a single neighbour. Everything had changed in the last year, and of course she didn’t feel safe to remain there.

After the conflict, most apartments vacated by fleeing Serbs were simply taken over by Albanians, many from remote villages. Snezana’s apartment too, was occupied by Albanians until they were evicted by the Housing and Property Directorate. But, it is not secure enough for Snezana to return to her flat.

Snezana Borzanovic: UNMIK Police will not allow me to use my flat because of threats. They told me that they couldn’t protect me for 24 hours. Maybe they are right. There is one Serb in the same street who is continuously being mistreated, and recently he was attacked. He lives 20 metres from my flat.”

Yet, the Serbs are coming back – in a trickle perhaps, but the desire is patently there. Conditions of IDPs in Serbia and other places are abysmal, with local resources already overstretched by the economic crisis and the legacy of previous wars. The UNHCR’s Mishko Mimica doesn’t expect returns to take place on a huge scale, but he does think that families will keep coming – for two reasons.

Mishko Mimica: People are linked to Prishtina, they spent a life here and they want to continue. Another reason is people have difficulties integrating within Serbia, after 4 years they still continue to be IDPs. They are still considered to be aliens. They are people who want to return and conditions are improving. So we hope that sometime in the future, it will be possible for Serbs to live all over Prishtina, not only in a couple of apartment blocks as they are living now.

Unable to move around freely in Pristina, Snezana is forced to buy her daily rations in the open market in Gracanica, a Serb enclave, five kilometres away. This she hopes will change, and there are times when she shops in Prishtina with an Albanian speaking Serb neighbour. Perhaps with time, Snezana too will pick up enough Albanian to manage on her own and more importantly, to become fully integrated.

Gracanica also offers solace for the soul and Snezana makes it a point to visit the monastery each time she is in the enclave. Her prayer is not new though – all she wants is to live a normal life again.

Snezana Borzanovic: To be honest, I never imagined that there would not be any Albanians. We lived in one society; a fine society before, living with one nationality is not good. We socialised together and I don’t see why this should change now.

Snezana’s case is not just about one individual - if she is able to return to her flat and live normally, it would be a powerful message to other Serb IDPs that return is not just wishful thinking. It will also be a sign that things are changing for the better in post-war Kosovo.

That does it for this edition of UNMIK ON AIR. Thanks for listening.