Kosovo government reiterates commitment to help return of all refugees

Text of report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Prishtina [Pristina], 20 June: On World Refugees Day the government said that despite the limited budget, it has managed to provide conditions for return, and pledged that it will work even harder for returning of all of refugees home.

The government said that it is committed to create conditions for return of all to return to their properties.

"We share the pain and sufferings with all those who are refugees and displaced persons with the hope and wish that they will find strength to keep alive their hopes until the day when their status as a refugee ends and when they return to their homes to begin a new life," the government stated in a press release.

The Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosova [Kosovo], ambassador Werner Wnendt, today urged refugees and the internally displaced persons [IDPs] to hold on to their dreams of returning home.

"We at the OSCE honour the strength, the patience, and the hopes held by all refugees and IDPs from and within Kosovo, and on this day encourage you to persevere. We are helping to prepare the ground for your return, so that your dreams can be realized in the near future," he said.

Prime Minister Ceku has launched a "Confidence-Building Task Force" and a "Communities Security Council" to assess and address the needs of minorities, who remain the most at-risk populations for human rights violations in Kosovo. The PISG [Provisional Institutions of Self-Government] also recently endorsed a Protocol on Voluntary and Sustainable Returns.

Ambassador Wnendt added: "We applaud all the recent efforts by the authorities to take remedial action towards improving the conditions in Kosovo for voluntary and sustainable returns of refugees and IDPs. We stand beside this government and all its institutions, as an ally and supporter in the quest to secure better living conditions for refugees, IDPs and all Kosovo residents."

The UN General Assembly designated 20 June every year as World Refugee Day in a resolution that was unanimously adopted in 2000.

Source: KosovaLive website, Pristina, in English 20 Jun 06