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Skopje /MACEDONIA ( Zeljko Bajic for RNN ) March the 28th, 2000
Thousands of Romany refugees eke out a hand-to-mouth existence...
Skopje /MACEDONIA ( Zeljko Bajic for RNN ) March the 28th, 2000
Thousands of Romany refugees eke out a hand-to-mouth existence in Macedonia,
unwanted by the West and unable to return to their Kosovo homes
By Zeljko Bajic in Skoplje
Romany refugees in Macedonia are living on borrowed time. On March 21, the
government decided to extend their leave to remain in the country by three
months. What will happen to them after that is anyone's guess.
One young Romany, expelled by the Albanians after international peacekeepers
arrived in Kosovo, said, "We want to go home to Kosovo, and they are only
extending our stay. What has the international community done to help us
return home?"
United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) representatives are
putting increasing pressure on the Macedonian government to grant asylum to
the Romanies and the authorities are showing signs of conceding.
But the Romanies are unhappy with this alternative. They have no wish to
stay in Macedonia as they see few prospects there. They dream of emigrating
to the West, or returning home to Kosovo. But both possibilities seem
equally remote.
Macedonia is currently home to 8,500 refugees, most of them Romanies. They
have joined an existing ethnic community estimated to number between 60,000
(according to official figures) and 150,000.
The refugees flooded in from different parts of Kosovo last summer, after
being expelled by Albanian extremists. They spent the first few months
living under canvas in makeshift camps, where they were given basic
foodstuffs and primitive medical care.
Although Macedonia has a good track record for its treatment of Romanies,
some locals resent the sudden influx of refugees.
Last December, the inhabitants of Stari Dorjan, a small town on the Dorjan
Lake, joined forces to picket a children's holiday camp earmarked for Romany
refugees. The locals threw up roadblocks around the camp and defied the
authorities for several days until their demands were met.
The refugees encountered the same level of hostility from residents in
Mavrovi Anovi, a town on the slopes of Mount Mavrovo which is a popular
winter resort.
In both cases, the townspeople voiced fears that the Romanies would disrupt
the ethnic balance in the area and trigger a rise in crime and prostitution.
As a result, 230 gypsies took refuge in the Stenkovec camp, where they
endured sub-zero temperatures without warm clothes or blankets.
A total of around 2,400 Romany refugees have been housed in 10 special
centres across Macedonia -- mostly abandoned holiday camps. Most believe
that returning to Kosovo would spell certain death.
Rashid Ramadani, a refugee from Gnjilan, comments, "We can't return to
Kosovo. The Albanians would kill us. They accuse us of collaborating with
the Serbs. There april have been a few individuals who served in Serbian
paramilitary units, but you can't hold an entire people responsible for
that. We have always lived in peace with our Albanian neighbors."
Ever since the refugees arrived in Macedonia, the government has been
insisting they return home, claiming it lacks the facilities to look after
them properly. The authorities even entered into negotiations with Belgrade
over the return of the Romanies to Serbia which, they say, has a duty to
take care of them. These initiatives, however, have since been abandoned.
Despite daily reports of attacks on minority groups in Kosovo, Skoplje
insists that it is safe for the Romany refugees to return to the war-torn
enclave.
In an interview last weekend with the state radio station, Minister of
Internal Affairs Dosta Dimovska said every effort should be made to persuade
the refugees that they face no real dangers by returning home.
Meanwhile, the UNHCR is encouraging the Romanies to stay in Macedonia, even
if the economically challenged Republic has little enough to offer its own
subjects, let alone refugees.
Although many still dream of a fresh start in the West, no Western country
has yet shown any signs of putting out the welcome mat.
One refugee staying at the children's holiday camp on the Vodno Hill near
Skoplje said, "Journalists and aid workers come and visit us every day. Then
they leave. We are left with the same problems, with the same memories about
what happened to us. aprilbe, at the very beginning, there was some desire to
help us. I don't know how long this will last but, all the same, we are
hoping for a brighter future."
While deciding to extend the refugees' leave to remain, the Macedonian
government ruled that the Romanies must vacate the holiday camps by April 1.
The decision was most likely prompted by the approach of the tourist season
and the need to free up rooms for holiday-makers.
After April 1, the UNHCR together with the ministries of employment and
town-planning will be obliged to find alternative accommodation -- probably
under canvas.
But those who have been unable to get a place in a hotel or receive help
from the Macedonian Red Cross and the UNHCR have been forced to fend for
themselves. In most cases, this means renting a room in Skoplje's Shuto
Orizari district, the only Romany enclave in Europe.
Nezdet Mustafa, Shuto Orizari aprilor and leader of the United Party of Roma,
describes the Settlement with pride. "This is the only Roma bastion in the
world," he says. "We have over 40,000 Romanies living here."
But, even though the Settlement has recently been modernized, some areas
still lack a proper sanitation system and sewage spills across the streets.
About 80 per cent of Shuto Orizari residents are unemployed.
In some cases, as many as 10 people live in a single room. Rents -- which
range between 150 and 200 German marks a month -- are prohibitively
expensive for unemployed Romany refugees.
Surviving from day to day has become a bitter struggle. Many sell cheap
milk, peas, rice and cooking oil from humanitarian aid packages at the Shuto
Orizari market, using the income to pay their rent and buy small quantities
of fruit, vegetables and meat. Sometimes, they can stretch to cigarettes and
alcohol as well.
"We survive somehow", says one refugee. "But Macedonia remains the most
tolerant country in Europe as far as Romanies are concerned."
Zeljko Bajic is a regular contributor to IWPR
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