Top UN Kosovo envoy urges Roma to move to newly-refurbished camp

The chief United Nations envoy to Kosovo is urging displaced persons from the country’s Roma minority to relocate from their current, lead-polluted camps to a newly-refurbished facility which opened last week, after hearing their concerns over another move to temporary dwellings.

“Of course, this is not the permanent solution, but there is no doubt that conditions are much better than what we have in the camps,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s Special Representative, Soren Jessen-Petersen, told Roma leaders yesterday at the Cesmin Lug Roma camp, before joining them on a tour of newly-renovated Camp Osterode, which formerly housed French troops.

He stressed that health and hygiene, electricity, water and heating were all better in the Osterode facility, children would have access to education and recreation and income-generating activities would be available.

Most of the displaced in the camps came from the main Roma neighbourhood, known as the Roma Mahalla, which was destroyed during the conflict between majority Albanians, Serbs and Yugoslav forces in 1999. The UN has administered Kosovo since NATO forces drove out the Yugoslav troops that year.

Reconstruction of the Roma Mahalla has started, with the first phase of rubble clearing completed and work on the first two buildings planned.

“There is no doubt whatsoever that what we all want to see is the permanent return to the Mahalla,” Mr. Jessen-Petersen said.

“We are working on that, and mobilizing donors for the resources needed to continue the work to rebuild the Mahallah,” he assured the Roma leaders.