Kosovo official welcomes return of Serbs to urban areas

xcerpt from report in English by independent internet news agency KosovaLive

Prishtina [Pristina], 20 July: Kosova [Kosovo] institution officials have presented the results from the freedom of movement improvement so that 306 citizens have returned. Of these, 53 are Serbs, 107 Romas, 123 Ashkali and Egyptians, four Bosniaks, and 19 are Gorani.

This was presented in the Labour Group meeting for Standard III and Standard IV - freedom of movement and permanent returns - where have participated local official and internationals, as well as, for the first time, senior officials from the Ministry of Return and Communities [MRC].

The deputy minister of return and communities (MRC), Nazmi Fejza, said that their engagement is not towards creation of new enclaves but permanent return of families in the way that they can face the challenges that citizens of Kosova face.

According to him the returns are daily and mainly individual. The good news in the process which Kosova faces is that there are a lot of urban returns, the thing that did not happen before.

The area with the most returns is Kline [Klina], then the region of Peje [Pec]. There is not exact number because returns are happening every day, even though not in the number planned by the government.

While the deputy minister of the local self-administration said that the return issue also depends on the Belgrade affection, which is additional obstacle for not having permanent returns of the refugees. [Passage omitted]

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