At the Kosovo level, there is still high refusal from the receiving community to agree to the return of displaced persons mainly of Roma and Serb communities. The return records in municipalities show that the majority of cases where returns were not possible to be implemented are due to the refusal of Albanian community to receive former neighbours.
Acting Minister of Returns and Communities, Dalibor Jevtic, stressed that rule of law should be a priority and that the right to return to one’s property is guaranteed through Kosovo laws and its Constitution.
Residents of Kosovo consider that that crimes committed against the Albanian population by Serb forces have not nearly been punished. As a result, they are still not ready to accept former neighbours.
The UN refuge agency (UNHCR) in Kosovo that has the leading role in the process stresses that the right to return is a fundamental human right and should not be negotiated with anyone. Similarly, OSCE thinks that the practice of asking the local residents whether they accept their former neighbours is not necessarily required. “The right to return, as any other human right, should not be conditioned and it is not necessary to request permission to exercise this right”, said Kosovo mission spokesperson, Nikola Gaon.
