UNMIK/PR/1705
Mitrovicë/a - The return of 24 Roma families to their original place of residence on 16 October marks the end of the first phase of the “Return to Roma Mahala” project. Fourteen families (61 members) have returned from camps in the northern part of Mitrovicë/a three families (12 members) from Montenegro and seven families (34 members) from Serbia proper. The total number of returnees at the end of the first phase is 107.
The completion of the first phase of “Return to the Roma Mahala” is the culmination of collective efforts undertaken jointly by UNMIK, OSCE, UNHCR, the municipality of Mitrovicë/a and the implementing partners.
The efforts were coordinated through the Steering Group for the Return to Roma Mahala, which worked closely with the Danish Refugee Council and Norwegian Church Aid.
The first phase facilitated the return of 102 families (462 individuals) to 4 municipal apartment blocks and 54 private houses. The majority of families returned to their new houses and municipal apartments in March this year.
The comprehensive returns project to Roma Mahala aims to ensure a sustainable return with dignity and the social reintegration of families to Mitrovicë/a. Central to these efforts was to give the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities the opportunity to participate in the reconstruction of their homes, generate income and develop social contacts with the receiving Kosovo Albanian community.
The total budget for the first phase was close to 5 million euros, granted by the Norwegian Government (over 2 040 000 euros) the European Agency for Reconstruction (1 250 000 euros/ Return of 35 families), Swedish International Development Agency (770,000 euros / Return of 19 families), Irish Government (250,000 euros), German Government (50,000 euros), Belgian Government (19,000 euros), Greek Government (10,000 euros), SRSG Contingency Fund (250,000 euros), PISG (200,000 euros), and UNDP. KFOR, KPC, and KPS have also been contributing, through their cooperation to the success of this project.
Before the conflict in 1999, the Roma Mahala in Mitrovicë/a was once home to some 8,000 Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians.
