Kosovo Roma want to take part in the negotiations on Kosovo�s future

Karin Waringo - Kosovo Roma and Ashkali Forum

26 October 2005

One day after the announcement by UN Security Council of the opening of the negotiations on Kosovo�s political status Kosovo Roma have requested to be admitted to these talks.

Roma community members were chased in aftermath Kosovo

In a letter addressed to high representatives of the international community and the EU representatives of the Kosovo Roma, Ashkalija and Egyptian communities have asked for an urgent solution of the problems of the Roma of the former Yugoslavia who have become victims of wars and racist violence, many of whom continue to live in limbo.

The signatories of the letter including the main international Romani organisations and several hundreds of NGOs and individuals also asked for an immediate ban on the deportations of Roma, Askalija and Egyptians to Kosovo and for recognition of their right to asylum.

During a meeting on the implementation of policies for Sinti and Roma convened at the end of last week by the Human Rights department of the OSCE, ODIHR, in Warsaw, the representatives of Kosovo�s Roma communities agreed on a common platform for future cooperation.

In an initiative supported by representatives of international Romani organisations and welcomed by the Deputy Head of Mission of the OSCE in Pristina, Ambassador Jens Modvig, they asked for the recognition of the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Roma in the aftermath of the NATO-bombing, a compensation for the victims of war-time damages, the return of occupied properties, the restoration of security and freedom of movement in Kosovo and a fair and impartial investigation in acts of racist violence and discrimination, equal representation and access to public institutions, effective access for the members of the non-Albanian communities to housing, education, health care and employment and appropriate assistance to IDPs and returnees.

The supporters of the platform also demanded safeguards for the rights of the non-Albanian communities in the event that Kosovo should become independent and the recognition of Kosovo Roma as a constituent people of Kosovo. As a matter of emergency and in order to enable the coordination of the interests of a community which is today spread throughout the world they demanded the organisation of an international conference on the situation of the Kosovo Roma.

Roma once constituted the third largest ethnic community of Kosovo accounting for an estimated 150,000. In the aftermath of the war and the departure of the Yugoslav army Roma were chased away and their houses and properties destroyed and looted.

Despite the persisting volatility of the situation which is further exacerbated by the start of the negotiations on Kosovo's political status Western governments as well as governments of the region have recently augmented pressures towards a return of Roma, Ashkalija and Egyptian refugees to Kosovo. International political attention has so far concentrated on the interests of the two main communities, the Kosovo Serbs and Albanians, whereas the smaller communities have been left out from the political processes.