UNMIK ORC - Kosovo Returns Activities Newsletter No. 40
Week 17 - 23 April 2004
Regional Developments On Tuesday, April 20 minority issues on Prizren and Rahovac were discussed at the Regional Minority Meeting. KFOR reported that the telephones in Novake were not working and the water in the reserve water tank was not being filtered. The LCO would address the telephone issue and ASB would look at cleaning the tank. KFOR also reported that they had been approached by one Serb woman in Mushnikovo whose barn and cattle had been burned during the events of March 17. LCO agree to follow up on the case. The LCO reported that the Monks returned to St. Archangels Monastery on Friday, April 16. The LCO office delivered tools to the monks and stated that the phone lines to the monastery should be reconnected this week. The LCO also delivered social assistance checks and pension checks to the IDPs in the KFOR camp and in Prizren town. ICMC reported that they were working on restarting the Zhupa and Novake s huttles as soon as possible. ASB stated that they were preparing to build animal barns in Novake for animals that will be provided by IOM. ASB also reported that they had selected the 14 beneficiaries for their reconstruction project in the Zhupa Valley . The LCO reported that since March 17, there has been no contact between the Serbs and Albanians in Rahovac. As well, the additional vice president does not report to work at the municipality. The Serbs are going to their fields but only in large groups. They are afraid to go alone. The LCO reported that the UN buses that had been traveling to Gracnica and Mitrovica before the events were still not running. He emphasized the importance of these buses for freedom of movement and appealed to the group for any possible help. OSCE reported that one Roma family in Upper Orahovac was experiencing problems with their water supply. The LCO agreed to look into the matter. KFOR, RRU, LCO, and ICMC had a meeting on Friday, April 23, regarding the shuttle service for Zhupa Valley and Novake and the escorts for the buses in Rahovac. KFOR gave a security assessment of low to medium risk for the Zhupa shuttle and ICMC agreed to restart the shuttle on Monday, April 26. The shuttle will follow the same schedule but will only run between Recane and Strpce witout entering Prizren. ICMC stated that the Novake shuttle was a more sensitive issue and would start later and KFOR agreed. KFOR explained that they had submitted a tentative schedule for the buses in Orahovac for approval to Assistant Chief of Staff of Operations (the ACCOS). The plan includes both CivPol and KFOR as escorts. It calls for the bus to Zvecan to leave on Tuesdays and the bus to Gracnica on Saturdays . Suahrek?/Suva Reka
The Suva Reka Urban Returns Task Force met on Thursday April 22, attended by the Municipal Assemblyman for Minority (i.e., RAE) Communities, Vice President, Deputy MR, ARC, RRU, UNHCR and a community leader from the neighborhood to be visited. The visit of the 7 Ashkali refugees is tentatively planned on May 20. After a brief exchange of views, the following was agreed:
-UNHCR would organize a meeting next week involving RRU, NRC and the Municipal Director for Juridical and Property Issues to discuss the cases of 2 returnees with property-related issues.
-ARC and UNHCR will meet bilaterally and liaise with KPS to finalize plans for the GSV.
-The Task Force will meet again on May 3 to address any last outstanding issues before the visit takes place.
Prizren