RETURN of IDPs From

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• RETURN of IDPs From
• KOSOVO
• John Andrew Young,
• Senior Protection Officer
• UNHCR Representation in Serbia

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Overview

• Not a good time to return to Kosovo
• Security Concerns
• Pending Status Instability
• Kosovo Serbs, Roma and Albanians (in minority
  situations), among others, Continue to be at Risk
• Internal Flight not an Alternative

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Obstacles to Return

• 1. 17 March 2004 Events
• 2. Lack of Security and Freedom of Movement
• 3. Lack of Respect for Property
• 4. Lack of Rule of Law
• 5. Lack of Access to Basic Socio-economic Rights
• 6. Lack of Funding
• 7. Complicated Return Procedures

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Security concerns 2006

• 68-year Old Serb Returnee in Klina Shot Dead
• Serb Youth Shot Dead Near Zvecan
• Attack on Gas Station At Grabovac Two Serbs
  Shot
• Serb Teacher Returning to Visit Home in Decani
  Attacked
• Bomb Thrown into Apartment of Serb Returnee
  Family to Klina
• Grenade Attack on Café in Northern Mitrovica 9
  People Injured

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Orahovac
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Roma Mahala, South Mitrovica
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Property Rights

• Restitution of Property Is Crucial in the Search
  for Durable Solutions and for Sustainable Returns
• Complicated and Lengthy Procedures of Housing and
  Property Directorate and Today of the Kosovo
  Property Agency
• Lack of Adequate Information for IDPs Regarding
  Procedures on Restitution of Property

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Rule of Law

• Kosovo Legal Institutions and Police Are Weak
• Lack of Will and Readiness to Enforce Legislation

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Rule of Law

• Crime and Corruption
• Perpetrators Remain At Large - Climate of
  Impunity
• Problems Accessing Rights and Public Services

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Checkpoint near Pec, eastern Kosovo
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FUNDING

• 20 Million Euro Shortfall for 22 Return Projects
• Complicated and Lengthy Return Procedures
• Revised Manual for Sustainable Return 73 Pages

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UNHCR Position on the Continued International
Protection Needs of Individuals From Kosovo (June
2006)

• Provide Updated Recommendations to the Relevant
  Authorities in the Asylum Countries
• to Assist Them in the Determination of Claims for
  International Protection

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UNHCR Position Paper

• Highlights the Existing Political Environment in
  Kosovo
• Assesses the Current Situation of Ethnic
  Minorities in Kosovo
• Identifies the Ethnic Minorities Who Continue to
  Be At Risk of Persecution
• Highlights the Humanitarian Needs of Certain
  Persons That Should Be Considered Before Taking a
  Decision on Their Return to Kosovo

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UNHCRS OPINION

• Kosovo Serbs, Roma and Albanians in a Minority
  Situation Continue to Be At Risk of Persecution
• They Should Be Considered As Falling Under the
  Provision of Article 1 (2) of the 1951 Refugee
  Convention

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Further

• When a State Is Not Able to Grant Refugee Status,
  But the Individual Is Not Excluded From
  International Protection, a Complementary Form of
  Protection Should Be Granted
• These Are
• Persons in Mixed Marriages and Persons of Mixed
  Ethnicity
• Persons Perceived to Have Been Associated With
  the Serbian Authorities After 1990
• Victims of Trafficking

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View from N. Mitrovica
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Application of the Internal Flight Alternative
Concept?

• Secondary Displacement
• Contrary to the Spirit of the UNSC Resolution
  1244
• Specially Vulnerable Situation of Roma in Serbia
• Would Not Constitute a Meaningful Alternative to
  International Protection
• Would Not Represent a Durable Solution for the
  Displaced

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Humanitarian Categories

• Unaccompanied Elderly Persons Who Have No
  Relatives Or Any Form of Social Support in Kosovo
• Separated Children Without Relatives Or
  Caregivers in Kosovo and for Whom It Is Found Not
  to Be in Their Best Interest to Return to Kosovo

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UNHCR Serbia Return Activities

• UNHCR Does Not Promote Return, But the Right to
  Return
• Go and See Visits
• Go and Inform Visits
• Participation of IDP Representatives in Municipal
  Working Group Meetings
• Provision of Information to IDPs

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GSV to Pristina
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Bridge b/w North South Mitrovica
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Contingency Planning

• for Possible Population Movements Within and From
  Kosovo

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Summary

• Not a good time to return to Kosovo
• Security Concerns
• Pending Status Instability
• Kosovo Serbs, Roma and Albanians (in minority
  situations), among others, Continue to be at Risk
• Internal Flight not an Alternative

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• THANK YOU!!!
• young_at_unhcr.org
• UNHCR Krunska 58
• 11000 Belgrade
• Serbia