UNMIK/PR/1220
Pristina – SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen and Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi promised today to continue working to find permanent homes for displaced Ashkali, Roma and Serbs living in Plementina camp.
“We have seen things that both the prime minister, myself, all of us here, are very embarrassed about,” the SRSG said, after inspecting the shacks and containers in the camp that have housed displaced people for the last five years and seeing the damage done to apartments in Obilic during the March riots.
Mr. Jessen-Petersen noted that he had visited Plementina before, in 1999 when he was the UN’s Assistant High Commissioner for Refugees, and expressed regret that no permanent solution had yet been found to accommodate displaced people. “I think that both the prime minister and myself made it very clear that next time we go to the Plementina camp, it must be the last time, to close that camp,” he said.
Prime Minister Rexhepi agreed, saying that it is realistic to expect that the government will find a solution together with the international community. “We think that together with UNMIK and with other donors, it’s time for these people to be settled, either in collective housing for those that did not have property, or for them to return to their homes and to finally close this camp.”
The delegation then visited Serb IDPs in Obilic whose homes have been undergoing renovation to repair the damage caused during the March riots.
Dr. Rexhepi and Mr. Jessen-Petersen spoke with many of the residents and heard their concerns about the pace of reconstruction and their worries about security.
“The government will fulfil the promises it has given,” the prime minister said. “They are right to expect now, as was promised, that from the SRSG’s reserve fund these families will be paid €2,000 each so that they can buy the necessary furniture and household items.” He added that in the next phase of reconstruction, secondary buildings such as barns and workshops damaged in the unrest will also be repaired.
The SRSG addressed the media after seeing the living conditions of the Serbs and said: “They want to get back to a normal life. They want their kids to start school on the 1st of September, but in order to do that they need to have security.”
“I will certainly commit the international community, UNMIK, but also in my contacts with KFOR, to make sure that people can go back, that kids can start school,” the SRSG said. “They have a right to expect that we will do everything within our power to make that possible.”