Need to Support Minority Communities to Prevent Further Displacement and Allow Durable Solutions
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KOSOVO: Need to support minority communities to prevent further displacement and allow durable solutions A profile of the internal displacement situation 22 January, 2010 This Internal Displacement Profile is automatically generated from the online IDP database of the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC). It includes an overview of the internal displacement situation in the country prepared by the IDMC, followed by a compilation of excerpts from relevant reports by a variety of different sources. All headlines as well as the bullet point summaries at the beginning of each chapter were added by the IDMC to facilitate navigation through the Profile. Where dates in brackets are added to headlines, they indicate the publication date of the most recent source used in the respective chapter. The views expressed in the reports compiled in this Profile are not necessarily shared by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre. The Profile is also available online at www.internal-displacement.org. About the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre, established in 1998 by the Norwegian Refugee Council, is the leading international body monitoring conflict-induced internal displacement worldwide. Through its work, the Centre contributes to improving national and international capacities to protect and assist the millions of people around the globe who have been displaced within their own country as a result of conflicts or human rights violations. At the request of the United Nations, the Geneva-based Centre runs an online database providing comprehensive information and analysis on internal displacement in some 50 countries. Based on its monitoring and data collection activities, the Centre advocates for durable solutions to the plight of the internally displaced in line with international standards. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre also carries out training activities to enhance the capacity of local actors to respond to the needs of internally displaced people. In its work, the Centre cooperates with and provides support to local and national civil society initiatives. For more information, visit the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre website and the database at www.internal-displacement.org. Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre Norwegian Refugee Council Chemin de Balexert 7-9 1219 Geneva, Switzerland Tel.: +41 22 799 07 00 [email protected] www.internal-displacement.org 2 CONTENTS OVERVIEW.......................................................................................................................9 NEED TO SUPPORT MINORITY COMMUNITIES TO PREVENT FURTHER DISPLACEMENT AND ALLOW DURABLE SOLUTIONS ............................................................................................... 9 CAUSES AND BACKGROUND ..................................................................................... 17 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................. 17 THE CONFLICT IN KOSOVO (1981-1999): INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY FINALLY IMPOSES AUTONOMY OF THE PROVINCE TO YUGOSLAV AUTHORITIES ................................................ 17 KOSOVO UNDER INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATION (2003) ................................................. 19 UNCERTAINTY AROUND FINAL STATUS ISSUE HAS A NEGATIVE IMPACT ON DISPLACEMENT AND RETURN (2005)................................................................................................................. 20 AHTISAARI'S COMPREHENSIVE PROPOSAL FOR KOSOVO STATUS SETTLEMENT AND DISPLACEMENT-RELATED ISSUES (2007)............................................................................ 23 DECENTRALISATION: BUILDING CONFIDENCE AND SELF-GOVERNANCE FOR MINORITY GROUPS WHILE AVOIDING SEGREGATION (2007) .............................................................................. 24 FINAL STATUS OF KOSOVO MAY HAVE A DESTABILIZING EFFECT IN SOUTHERN SERBIA AND NEIGHBOURING AREAS (OCTOBER 2007) ........................................................................... 26 REACTIONS TO THE AHTISAARI PLAN OF STATUS SETTLEMENT (2007)................................. 28 FAILURE OF NEGOTIATIONS OVER FINAL STATUS OF KOSOVO MAY LEAD KOSOVO ALBANIANS TO DECLARE UNILATERAL INDEPENDENCE (2007) ............................................................... 31 INCREASING ROLE OF THE EU IN KOSOVO (2007) .............................................................. 34 KOSOVO'S UNILATERAL DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (2009) ....................................... 35 RECOGNITION OF KOSOVO'S UNITALERAL DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE (AS OF SEPTEMBER 2009)............................................................................................................ 39 BELGRADE'S STRATEGY TO ASSERT CONTROL OVER KOSOVO SERB MAJORITY MUNICIPALITIES (2009).............................................................................................................................. 43 DECENTRALISATION: AN INCREASING NUMBER OF KOSOVO SERBS SOUTH OF THE RIVER IBAR ENGAGE WITH THE KOSOVO AUTHORITIES (2009)............................................................... 46 CAUSES OF DISPLACEMENT .............................................................................................. 49 DISPLACEMENT BEFORE AND DURING NATO INTERVENTION (1998-1999)........................... 49 MASSIVE RETURN OF KOSOVO ALBANIANS SINCE END OF NATO INTERVENTION (FROM JUNE 1999)............................................................................................................................... 51 LARGE SCALE DISPLACEMENT OF ETHNIC MINORITIES FOLLOWING THE NATO INTERVENTION (1999).............................................................................................................................. 52 ETHNIC ALBANIANS FORCED TO LEAVE SERB ENCLAVES IN KOSOVO (2000-2002)............... 54 REFUGEES RETURNING TO KOSOVO FACE RISK OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT (2000-2002).. 55 FORCED DISPLACEMENT ALSO AFFECTS OTHER MINORITY GROUPS IN KOSOVO (2001-2002) ........................................................................................................................................ 58 MARCH 2004: ETHNIC VIOLENCE LEADS TO A NEW WAVE OF DISPLACEMENT (2004) ............ 59 PERVASIVE INSECURITY CONTINUES TO FORCE ETHNIC MINORITIES IN KOSOVO TO LEAVE THEIR HOME AREAS (2000-2005) ...................................................................................... 61 3 INCREASING NUMBER OF FORCED RETURN REINFORCES THE RISK OF SECONDARY DISPLACEMENT (2005) ...................................................................................................... 64 THE ETHNIC MINORITIES IN KOSOVO .................................................................................. 67 THE SERBIAN POPULATION IN KOSOVO: UP TO 300,000 PERSONS BY 1999......................... 67 ROMA, ASHKAELIA AND EGYPTIANS IN KOSOVO (2006) ...................................................... 69 OTHER ETHNIC MINORITIES IN KOSOVO (2006)................................................................... 71 INTERETHNIC RELATIONS (2007) ....................................................................................... 74 POPULATION FIGURES AND PROFILE ...................................................................... 78 OVERVIEW........................................................................................................................ 78 BACKGROUND AND NUMBERS (2009) ................................................................................ 78 UNHCR ESTIMATES SUGGEST THAT AT LEAST 19,724 PERSONS ARE INTERNALLY DISPLACED WITHIN KOSOVO (AS OF OCTOBER 2009)........................................................................... 80 APPROXIMATELY 500 IDPS CONTINUE LIVING IN THE CESMING LUG CAMP (2009) ............... 81 ABOUT 4,000 IDPS LIVE IN COLLECTIVE CENTRES AS OF NOVEMBER 2002 ......................... 82 ABOUT 36,000 PERSONS ARE INTERNALLY DISPLACED IN KOSOVO AS THE RESULT OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AND CONFLICT (UNHCR - DECEMBER 2000 - FEBRUARY 2001) ........... 82 DISPLACEMENT AS THE RESULT OF THE KOSOVO CONFLICT (MARCH-JUNE 1999): NO RELIABLE ESTIMATES FOR THE PERSONS STILL UNABLE TO RETURN TO DESTROYED HOUSES (2000-2001).....................................................................................................................83 PATTERNS OF DISPLACEMENT ................................................................................. 84 CURRENT DISPLACEMENT PROCESSES .............................................................................. 84 MARCH 2004 VIOLENCE CONSOLIDATES ETHNIC SEPARATION (2004).................................. 84 SMALL-SCALE BUT STEADY DISPLACEMENT FROM AND WITHIN KOSOVO (2000-2001) .......... 86 MULTIPLE DISPLACEMENT................................................................................................. 87 DISPLACED RETURNING FROM SERBIA TO KOSOVO TO SITUATIONS OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT (1999-2000)............................................................................................. 87 REFUGEES FROM CROATIA AND BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA WHO HAD BEEN SETTLED IN KOSOVO FORCED TO LEAVE AGAIN (1999-2001) .............................................................................. 88 OTHER FACTORS .............................................................................................................. 89 "ETHNIC CONCENTRATION" PROCESS IN KOSOVO (2005).................................................... 89 DISPLACEMENT FURTHERS MIGRATION TO URBAN AREAS IN KOSOVO,