UNMIK unveils plan for Kosovo Serb returns
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND SECURITY NETWORK (SWITZERLAND), Thursday, 20 April 2006 9.35 CET
ISN SECURITY WATCH - The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has unveiled a plan to lure Serb refugees back to Kosovo as the province future status is being decided, Dtt-Net.com reported.
The Brussels-based news agency quoted Sandra Michel, who is in charge of refugees returns for UNMIK, as telling reporters in Belgrade on Tuesday that the plan hoped to make it easier for displaced persons to return to Kosovo by allowing them to choose where they would like to live.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since the year 2000, 14,648 refugees or internally displaced persons from Kosovo have returned to their homes. Among those, 6,640 are Serbs.
Security for minority Serbs in the majority ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo is a major concern, especially with negotiations for the province's future status underway. Many Serbs in Kosovo live in UN-protected enclaves.
Earlier this month, UNMIK chief Soren Jessen Petersen said there had been some progress toward improving security for minority Serbs, but that there was still much work to be done, Dtt-Net.com reported.
The UNMIK head criticized Belgrade for urging Kosovo Serbs to boycott local institutions and refuse their salaries at education and healthcare public sector, saying such calls worked did not help to integrate Serbs into Kosovo society.
There are conflicting figures of Kosovo Serb refugees who left to Serbia after the end of 1999 war. The German think tank European Stability Initiative (ESI) said last year that there are only 65,000 displaced Kosovo Serbs living in Serbia proper - a figure that seriously challenges Belgrade's claims of close to 220,000. According to UNMIK, some 100,000 Serbs are living in Kosovo.
ISN SECURITY WATCH - The United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) has unveiled a plan to lure Serb refugees back to Kosovo as the province future status is being decided, Dtt-Net.com reported.
The Brussels-based news agency quoted Sandra Michel, who is in charge of refugees returns for UNMIK, as telling reporters in Belgrade on Tuesday that the plan hoped to make it easier for displaced persons to return to Kosovo by allowing them to choose where they would like to live.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), since the year 2000, 14,648 refugees or internally displaced persons from Kosovo have returned to their homes. Among those, 6,640 are Serbs.
Security for minority Serbs in the majority ethnic Albanian province of Kosovo is a major concern, especially with negotiations for the province's future status underway. Many Serbs in Kosovo live in UN-protected enclaves.
Earlier this month, UNMIK chief Soren Jessen Petersen said there had been some progress toward improving security for minority Serbs, but that there was still much work to be done, Dtt-Net.com reported.
The UNMIK head criticized Belgrade for urging Kosovo Serbs to boycott local institutions and refuse their salaries at education and healthcare public sector, saying such calls worked did not help to integrate Serbs into Kosovo society.
There are conflicting figures of Kosovo Serb refugees who left to Serbia after the end of 1999 war. The German think tank European Stability Initiative (ESI) said last year that there are only 65,000 displaced Kosovo Serbs living in Serbia proper - a figure that seriously challenges Belgrade's claims of close to 220,000. According to UNMIK, some 100,000 Serbs are living in Kosovo.
posted by Snezana @ 08:53
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