UNMIK/PR/1432
PRISTINA – SRSG Søren Jessen-Petersen today welcomed the commitment of the Federal Republic of Germany to contribute 500,000 euros to the relocation of Internally Displaced Persons of the RAE community currently living in three camps in Northern Mitrovica/Mitrovicë.
The SRSG thanked Ambassador Eugen Wollfarth, the Government and the people of Germany for their generous contribution to the relocation of some 560 individuals from 125 families currently living in the camps of Žitkovac/Zitkovc, Kablare/Kablar and Cesmin Lug/Llugë.
“We are facing in those three camps one of the most serious humanitarian problems in the entire region of the Western Balkans. The living conditions experienced by the Roma families in those camps are an affront to human dignity”, the SRSG said.
The SRSG recalled the effort made over the last months by UNMIK, UN agencies, NGOs, the PISG, and the liaison offices to address this humanitarian crisis and to solve it through a three-steps approach. He stressed the reinforcement of health services offered to the Roma in the three camps in order to manage the health situation there while urgently preparing their relocation. The SRSG added, "UNMIK is also actively working on what must be the solution: The voluntary return of the Roma to the places they used to live in, including the Roma Mahala site in Mitrovica/Mitrovicë."
The SRSG also sent a strong message to other governments and donors. “We now have the will, we have the plan, we have efforts on the way, but we do not have the money. What stands in the way right now is the lack of resources”, the SRSG said. “We have received a lot of messages from all over the world, we have listened to a lot of criticisms, but frankly we have seen very little action on the part of outsiders” he added.
The SRSG noticed that with the generous contribution from Germany and previous contributions from the United States and UNPD, about 50% of the 1.3 million euros needed for the relocation are now available. “We are now beginning to get the money. However, we need another 650.000 euros for the relocation and, in order to prepare for the return, we need much, much more”, he stressed.