Serbs living in Orahovac/Rahovec in Metohija valley are limited to an area measuring 150 by 150 meters. What was originally five thousand Serbs living in the small town, now reside only 800. Their future is quite unimaginable considering there were only 16 marriages in last three years.
“There is no life out of that Serbian territory,” said the president of the provisional body of the Serbian municipality (under Serbian administration) of Orahovac/Rahovec Golub Kujundžić to Srna news agency. He went on to say that out of the 5,000 Serbs who used to live before the peacekeepers arrived, only 800 of them have remained. They are exposed to attacks and their property is illegally occupied, thus their number is reducing every day.
In the suburb of Gornja Mahala, Serbs are surrounded by Albanians and they are selling their properties for a bargain, fully aware that they will have to leave, since usurpers of their properties and attackers are never brought to justice. Golub Kujundžić stressed that, along with the poor security situation, the biggest challenges they face are a lack of employment opportunities, lack of freedom of movement and lack of perspectives for young people. Out of 350 Serbs in Gornja Mahala, 160 of them are youth.
Serbs from Orahovac/Rahovec are mostly concerned with the frequency of incidents which are re-occurring every spring. Recently, neighbouring Albanian residents graffitied ‘Death to Serbs!’ and ‘Dead Serb is the best Serb!’
“That is a clear message regarding the extent to which Albanians really care about coexistence,” said Kujundžić, adding that Orahovac/Rahovec will remain without Serbs in years to come.
Slaviša Kolašinac said that situation is mostly destabilized regarding the Law on Locality of Velika Hoča/Hoça e Madhe: “The Law prevents the construction of premises bigger than 100 square meters. The construction permit should be obtained from the Advisory Board before the construction starts, which is created by municipal representatives and the Serbian Orthodox Church, however no one abides by it, and construction is taking place en route to Gornja Mahala-Velika Hoča/Hoça e Madhe.”
“People don’t see a way out. They are not ready to continue to suffer and fear for their own lives after 15 years in complete isolation,” concluded Kolašinac.
