Kosovo’s lack of capacity, political will and resources for reintegration have become a subject of repeated and increasing concern, and criticism, by international human rights
organizations and institutions.
On 9 July 2009, in a report on his visit to Kosovo, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, appealed to European governments to avoid forced returns of minorities to Kosovo and to regulate the status of those in their host country until conditions for their return improved. The Commissioner stated that: "The economic and social situation is still a major obstacle to a sustainable return process. While security issues have improved, the situation in Kosovo remains tense with inter-ethnic violence occurring sporadically." 133
On 20 June, in a statement to mark World Refugee Day, the Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, Ambassador Werner Almhofer, stressed that "The return and reintegration of displaced persons must be treated as a matter of priority." He called on the government and municipal authorities for an increased commitment to and implementation of return-related projects, and described the sustainable return and reintegration of displaced persons from Kosovo as a “major human rights challenge”.134
Following a visit to Kosovo, in a public statement on 7 July 2009, Walter Kälin,
Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on the Human Rights of Internally
133 “Para 162. The return process remains a key challenge for the Kosovo authorities. The Commissioner
considers that those persons who wish to return to Kosovo should be supported by the Kosovo authorities and that the return process should be planned, informed and sustainable. The Kosovo authorities must provide a safe environment, housing, education and possibilities to earn a living for those who choose to come back.
Para 163. The Commissioner appeals to governments in Europe to avoid forced returns of minorities to Kosovo and to regulate the status of those in their host country until conditions in Kosovo permit their safe return. In the Commissioner’s assessment there is currently no adequate capacity on the part of the authorities to receive and integrate mass returns in Kosovo. The economic and social situation is a major obstacle to a sustainable return process. While security issues have improved, in the Commissioner’s opinion the situation remains tense with inter-ethnic violence occurring sporadically.”, Report of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights’ Special Mission to Kosovo, 23 – 27 March 2009, CommDH(2009)23, Strasbourg, 2 July 2009, see
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1466279&Site=CommDH&BackColorInternet=FEC65B&BackColorInt ranet=FEC65B&BackColorLogged=FFC679#P468_89578
134 The OSCE Mission in Kosovo is responsible for monitoring human rights and rule of law issues in
areas affecting the right to return, such as housing and property rights, non-discriminatory access to public services, and employment opportunities, civil registration of communities' members, security and freedom of movement, and access to justice. The OSCE Mission in Kosovo also promotes and monitors the development of policies and procedures aimed at creating conditions for sustainable return.
Displaced Persons stated that: "Persons who were internally displaced from and within Kosovo still face serious obstacles to return and local integration". He identified “entrenched patterns of discrimination, lack of access to employment and livelihoods, too few schools for minorities and difficulties in repossessing property and having houses reconstructed [are] among the chief obstacles to return”.135 In the report which followed his visit Walter Kälin
emphasized, “[whilst] robust measures to provide such persons with real reintegration perspectives ... are not in place and discrimination remains pervasive, Governments should avoid the forced return of minorities to Kosovo and regulate the status of those in their host country until conditions in Kosovo permit their safe return.”136
On 15 July, in an interview with the German newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau, Thomas Hammarberg reiterated his position, stating: “What our countries tend to forget is that the refugees will be back soon if there is no integration in the country of origin.” He again called on EU governments not to forcibly return minorities to Kosovo, stating: “Kosovo does not yet have the capacity to readmit a large number of returnees”.137 The Council of Europe’s
position was subsequently set out by the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on Roma and Travellers.138
In December 2009, the Roma and Ashkali Documentation Centre (RADC, a local NGO) published a report, based on interviews with returnees, which described “the precarious circumstances and living conditions of RAE Romani, Ashkali and Egyptian returnees” and identified “the lack of a well coordinated system offering sustainable assistance, which might more effectively address the problems of repatriation”.139
Again in December 2009, Thomas Hammarberg, the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, in a letter to the Chancellor of Germany, stressed that Kosovo lacked the infrastructure to allow refugees’ sustainable reintegration: “Return is not purely a technical administrative act. It means to receive and re-integrate returning people, including families, in dignity and security. I urge the German authorities to prevent any further forced returns to Kosovo, particularly of Roma people, as long as the situation there does not guarantee a safe
135 UN Office Geneva, Serious Obstacles Remain For Internally Displaced In Balkans, Warns United
Nations Special Representative, 7 July 2009,
http://www.unog.ch/unog/website/news_media.nsf/%28httpNewsByYear_en%29/B1F49E564CFE7319C1 2575EC00327CF5?OpenDocument
136 Report of the Representative of the [UN] Secretary-General on the human rights of internally
displaced persons, Walter Kälin, A/HRC/13/21.Add.1, 11 December 2009.
137http://www.fr-online.de/in_und_ausland/politik/aktuell/1836888_Menschenrechtskommissar-
Hammarberg-im-Interview-Endstation-Kosovo.html.
138 SMG-S-ROM (2009)3, Updated Opinion of MG-S-ROM on the Return of Roma to Kosovo and South
Eastern Europe; Adopted by the MG-S-ROM at its 27th meeting in Seville, Spain on 26-27 March 2009;
Adopted by the CDMG at its 57th meeting in Strasbourg on 28-29 May 2009. The Committee of
Ministers’ Deputies took note of this updated Opinion on their 1062nd meeting on the 1st July 2009. 139 Roma and Ashkali Documentation Centre, Helplessness - Roma, Ashkalia and Egyptian Forced
and sustainable life for returnees.” Subsequently interviewed by German media
DeutscheWelle in April 2010 he stated that, "A quick deportation from European countries now to Kosovo is irresponsible." 140 The Commissioner also expressed similar concerns June
2010.141
Also in April 2010, the UN Secretary General in his report to the Security Council on the UN Mission in Kosovo stated: “Continuing forced returns from host countries may negatively impact the ability of Kosovo authorities to support sustainable returns and may exacerbate existing tensions”. He added that only 19 municipalities had adopted returns strategies in 2009, and that only four municipalities in Kosovo “are currently in the process of developing their returns strategies for 2010”.142
“As regards the process of reintegration of returnees, more resolute measures are needed to address their security concerns, and increased efforts must be made in areas such as employment, housing, education and, access to property, to ensure adequate conditions for safe and sustainable returns. Persons belonging to minority communities, who have been forcibly returned, are in a particularly vulnerable situation given the difficult socio-economic conditions they live in, often without access to healthcare and social services, employment and education. Notwithstanding the responsibility for the decision to implement forced returns lies with the governments of states from where persons have been returned, the authorities in Kosovo should address more vigorously the needs of those concerned considering their vulnerable situation.” Advisory Committee on The Framework Convention For The Protection Of National Minorities, 31 May 2010.143
These concerns were also reflected in a Resolution on Kosovo adopted by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on 22 June 2010 which called on the Kosovo authorities, amongst other things, to “[create] the socio-economic conditions for the full integration of individuals from minority communities in society, including displaced persons and returnees”.144
140 The Commissioner - CommDH(2009)42 15 December 2009, Letter from the Council of Europe
Commissioner for Human Rights to Mrs. Angela MERKEL, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, concerning forced returns to Kosovo, (25 November 2009); “Council of Europe calls deporting refugees back to Kosovo irresponsible”, 15 April 2010, www.dw-
world.de/dw/article/0,,5469539,00.html
141 “Children victimised when families are forced to return”, 9 June 2010;
http://commissioner.cws.coe.int/tiki-view_blog_post.php?postId=56
142Report of the Secretary-General on the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo,
S/2010/169, 6 April 2010, para.25.
143 Advisory Committee On The Framework Convention For The Protection Of National Minorities, Second
Opinion on Kosovo, adopted on 5 November 2009, 31 May 2010, ACFC/OP/II(2009)004,
http://www.coe.int/t/dghl/monitoring/minorities/3_FCNMdocs/PDF_2nd_OP_Kosovo_en.pdf.
144 Provisional edition, Resolution 1739 (2010),The situation in Kosovo and the role of the Council of
Europe, para.14.4.3
Most recently, in July 2010, the UN Agency for Children (UNICEF), published a report highly critical of the forcible return of Romani children from Germany to Kosovo, which focussed both on the manner of their removal from Germany, and the problems faced by children in re- integration, with a particular focus on their access to education.145 The study confirms that
the Kosovo authorities to date are unable to ensure adequate housing, healthcare or education for children forcibly returned to Kosovo. More than 70 per cent of those children interviewed by UNICEF had not attended school since their forced return to Kosovo.
145 Verena Knaus & Peter Widmann, Integration unter Vorbehalt: Zur Situation von Kindern kosovarischer
Roma, Ashkali und Ägypter in Deutschland und nach ihrer Rückführung in den Kosovo, UNICEF, July 2010.