UNMIK/PR/232
PRISTINA-Dr. Bernard Kouchner announced yesterday the formation of a Joint Committee on Returns, which he will head together with Bishop Artemije of the Serb National Council of Gracanica and the KFOR Commander General Joun Ortuno.
The committee was formed to encourage the return of Serbs who fled Kosovo over the past year, and at the same time to ensure that conditions exist for their safety and basic livelihood.
Membership on the JCR will include UNHCR, OSCE, UNMIK International Police, donors to international projects and Serb leaders of various regions throughout Kosovo.
The JCR's goals are to facilitate the return of Serb internally displaced people to Kosovo; to avoid an uncoordinated return that could endanger the security of returnees; to identify locations for safe return and ensure the security of returnees there; to identify donors for return and reconstruction programs; and to co-ordinate between the international security and civil presence, as well as between local leaders and the population.
"This will be the official channel to ask for help and to try and get security for the returnees," SRSG Kouchner told the media last night. "We need them. We want them. But please, without any adventure…We don't want competition in pushing the Serbs back without preparation."