GERMANY SENDS ASYLUM SEEKERS BACK

AIM Pristina, 29 April, 1997

When a month ago, the first airplane with about 70 refugees from Germany landed on Pristina airport, the euphoria which had been expected, simply did not happen. Perhaps because for the first time since they have been arriving to Kosovo in groups or individually, they were not interrogated, they were not searched, their documents were not confiscated, and what is most important, they were not sent back to where they had from: to one of the countries of Western Europe. But, local media did report on this even with certain sensationalism, but this time relying on information received from their journalists who had happened to be on the spot of the central development - escorting of the Albanians who had not been permitted to stay in Germany, by German police to the airport in Stuttgart. The first reports spoke about rough treatment of the police who raided accommodation camps and simply arrested certain persons not allowing them even to inform their relatives or friends about what was happening to them. This was mostly the only complaint, while on the other hand there was almost no complaint against customs and border officials who "welcomed" the in Pristina.

Soon after, everything was put in its place. The German ambassador in Belgrade, Wilfried Gruber, protested against such allegations and stressed that it was not true that the return of asylum seekers had not ben announced in advance. "On the contrary", he says, "all those who were returned had been informed in advance about their obligation to leave Germany". Majority of these returnees as Gruber said, "were staying in Germany illegally and failed to obey the obligation to return, despite the fact that they had been informed that if they failed to leave voluntarily, they would be returned by force". The German diplomat also stated that the police had not forcibly broken into their homes. According to his allegations "the action of German police took place on 2 April, and there was violence only in cases when some persons tried to prevent the police in performing their task".

In connection with this "misunderstanding", the president of the parliamentary committee for refugees in Kosovo, Rifat Bllaku, who happened to be in Germany at the time, declared after return to Pristina, that "rumours should not be started about the latest action of German police, because it was normal in the circumstances". At his press conference, he confirmned the words of the German ambassador. The complaint that the Albanian party had been completely excluded from the process of return of Albanian refugees to Kosovo, which was by the way for a long time the spark which stirred up discontent of the Albanians, was this time rejected by Bllaku, stating as an argument in favour of his stand that the "Albanian delegation was very warmly welcomed in Germany and that it got assurances that it would be included" in the business. Most important, Bllaku said, was that "the agreement on return of the Albanian asylum seekers was signed between Belgrade and Bonn, which entitled the German party to keep certain things a secret with its partner - the other signatory".

A more massive return of Albanian asylum seekers to Kosovo (only Germany had rejected at least 120 thousand demands) would mean not only that political tensions and economic poverty would increase, stresses Bllaku, but also "an increased number of maltreated young Albanians, which could on the one hand cause massive revolt, and on the other, increase the number of poor people for whom the money received every day from western countries was the only means of survival. That is why from the very beginning of the story about massive return of tens thousand Albanians to the already overpopulated Kosovo, the question was put about the "possibility of the German Government allocating certain material aid to those who were not welcome to stay".

According to the former international practice concerning signing of such agreements, establishment of the so-called "reintegration funds" is prescribed, which are used solely to help returnees. The German state signed a similar agreement on 3 November 1994 with the Czech Republic and allocated 60 million German marks for the purpose. Although the Agreement on return of the Albanians signed by Belgrade and Bonn does not prescribe any compensation, the Albanian party "doubts that the Yugoslav party will not 'profit'" from it. Of course, this will also remain a secret shared only by those who signed the Agreement, but the Albanians claim "this can have negative repercussions on the returnees".

On the other hand, there is a paradox in this business. According to data, despite signing of this Agreement and the return of the first big group of people, emigration of the Albanians continues. On the average, about two thousand Kosovo Albanians enter Germany each month. If this trend continued, an "migration circle would be created between Kosovo-Germany-Kosovo", Rifat Bllaku comments. According to a simple calculation, he explains, "in the course of two or three years 80 thousand Albanians would be returned to Kosovo, and about 70 thousand would 'imigrate' to Germany" at the same time.

There is a continuation of the story, just to make things more complicated. According to certain international documents, there is the possibility of seeking a "third country" for deportation of asylum seekers. In this case, as Rifat Bllaku claims, "this refers to the Albanian asylum seekers, who are on the one hand prevented to stay in Germany, and on the other, they are still threatened by maltreatment on return. Yugoslav authorities have abused this possibility, by having applied the method of seeking the third country" on two occasions. A group of young Albanians which had returned from Germany was sent to Turkey from Pristina airport, and another group after arrival from Great Britain, was sent to Belgium. This was a flagrant violation of this document, because this can be done only by approval of the refugees and in agreement with the country which wishes to receive them. But, certain sources resolutely claim that the German Government is looking for the possibility of finding the third country of asylum in negotiations with New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, Canada...

The agreement on return of the Albanian asylum seekers was the topic of talks of the parliamentary delegation of the Republic of Nord Reine Westfalia which has recently visited Kosovo. During a short briefing with the journalists, members of the delegation declared "that they were against the Agreement between Belgrade and Bonn on return of the Albanian asylum seekers". In the explanation of his opposition, Dr Hisham Hamad stressed that there were three reasons for it. First, he said was that the Albanian party had not participated in the preparations of this Agreement; the second was that the Albanian party was not involved in the process of return of the asylum seekers; and the third was that this was not the right timing for implementation of the Agreement, because the situation in Kosovo was very strained, and the return of asylum seekers would make it even more strained. For Jamal Carsley, "return of 120 thousand Albanians would burden the situation in Kosovo excesively, and this would be the same, for instance, if five million people would return to Germany, which could not be handled by a single highly developed state". Although the Albanian representatives share this opinion, some other European countries joined Germany in its firm decision to carry out what it had begun.

The same destiny awaits over 2,300 Albanians who have emigrated to Sweden. The official Stockholm has reached an agreement with the authorities in Belgarde for return of the Albanians who were not issued papers to continue their stay in this Nordic country. However, one of the representatives of the Swedish embassy officially claimed "that his Government would be satisfied if it managed to return 500 refugees".

And what will happen with another several ten thousand Kosovo Albanians who are refused hospitality in Swiztzerland? This still remains to be seen...

AIM Pristina Besim ABAZI