Refugees from Kosovo in Macedonia

They are Here - But There Are Not Any!?

AIM Skopje, 6 September, 1998

Since March this year, when the latest crisis in Kosovo started, until the end of July, 12 thousand guests from Kosovo have registered in Macedonia. There is not a single refugee in Macedonia, nor have any Kosovans been observed illegally crossing the Macedonian border, who would then seek the status of refugees. By presenting these data, Macedonian police once more closed the question of refugees from Kosovo which had been opened in Macedonian public even before the conflict broke out in Kosovo (with the statement of president Gligorov on the need to make a corridor for 200 to 400 thousand Kosovo refugees). However, although the intention was to forestall polemics about the existence/non-existence of refugees from Kosovo, Macedonian police for the first time made it public that there were not "just two to three thousand guests" but six times more, that is, 12 thousandof them !? The immediate cause of this "slip of the tongue" of the Ministry of the interior of Macedonia is the statement of the representative of UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Pristina, Eduardo Arboledo, that there are 20 thousand refugees with the status of guests in Macedonia, and not two thousand, as it was speculated since the beginning of the crisis.

The question of the status of refugees from Kosovo is in fact as old as the latest escalation of the crisis in Kosovo, and the most interesting thing is that to this day, not a single "guest" sought the status of a refugee. According to the media in Albanian language in Macedonia, the main reason for such attitude of Kosovans is fear not to be banished if they sought this status. Since majority of those who have come here have relatives, the least painful and the "safest" for them is to register as guests. They are accordingly accommodated in private homes of their relatives who also take care of food and other needs of their "guests". The only organization which takes care about refugees is the humanitarian organization El Hilal, seated in Skopje, which is led by Albanians. Faced with objective problems in carrying out his humanitarian mission, president of this organization, Abdurauf Pruthi (who is also a deputy in the parliament), claims that these people should be given the status of refugees and that Macedonian government must take certain measures to help. Similar is the stand of Albanian political parties, including the Party of Democratic Prosperity (PDP) which participates in the coalition government. According to data of secretary of the municipal council of Tetovo, there are more than two thousand refugees with the status of guests, and it is believed that there is an even greater number of them in Skopje and Kumanovo where the percetange of Albanian population with relatives in Kosovo is believed to be even greater.

According to information which reaches the public about these "guests", it can be said that, at least for the time being, they have all the "bare necessities" tjey need. On the list of El Hilal there are about one thousand persons of those who have asked for help in food, mostly hosts who are unable to provide for their guests. As an illustration, there is the statement of the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross and Crescent in Macedonia, Bill Harper, that "more than ninety per cent of the guests from Kosovo have no need for actual aid", except for a small number of those who have sought medical assistance. The major problem for the refugees is the right to change their status in Macedonia. Most of them, at the entrance into this country, are issued tourist visas with different duration, but mostly not more than a month or two. According to unconfirmed information Macedonian police is prompt in banishing all those whose visas have expired, and applications for prolongation of the status of guests usually end with a refusal. In that case, "guests" can do nothing but cross the Macedonian border and try to return as tourists with a new visa. Bulgaria was chosen as the most practical solution, where Kosovans go for a short time in order to return as "new" guests, however, according to declarations of relatives of those who have crossed the border of Macedonia once, they are not permitted to enter it again. The mentioned secretary of municipal council of Tetovo described a case of a woman from Kosovo who was forced to leave Macedonia after her visa had expired, but that her child, born in this country during her stay here, was retained in the country. Macedonian police denied this story as false and the mentioned source offered no evidence, but it nevertheless contributed to creation of a bitter impression about suffering of Albanian refugees from Kosovo which sometimes continues outside the war-stricken areas. On the other hand, Macedonian police offered the public an interesting story about attempts to contract marriages between girls from Kosovo and the Albanians from western Macedonia, mostly from the region of Tetovo and Gostivar. The police states suspicion that these demands for marriage are fictitious aimed only at prolonging the legal status in Macedonia.

Despite everything, the most acure at this moment is the problem of school children. Although the school year has already started, it is not known how the question of education of refugee children in Macedonia will be resolved. President of humanitarian organization El Hilal, Abdurauf Pruthi declares that the list of children who should go to school has not been completed yet, but it is not yet certain whether they will be able to go in any of the local schools. All things considered, one can say that nothing will be done in this direction. This impression will be even more understandable when one says that two weeks ago Albanian prime minister visited Macedonia and had a warm-hearetd meeting with his Macedonian colleague and both expressed concern because of the situation in Kosovo, but did not even mention the problem of refugees. There is no doubt that refugees themselves have contributed to this by persistently refusing to seek aid from Macedonian authorities on the ground of the rights of refugees, making the position of the latter easier in this way.

And as concerning the government which refuses to admit the real situation in connection with refugees from Kosovo, it is certain that it will not open this question before completion of the forthcoming elections scheduled to take place on 18 October. Confession that there are 12 thousand refugees in Macedonia would undoubtedly be a trump card in the hands of the opposition which has a national (often nationalistic) prefix. It can be said that the present government enjoys open support of the west, and has not been let down concerning this issue either. Representatives of western countries and international organizations have never contradicted the policy of the Macedonian government concerning refugees from Kosovo which can be considered as a specific and important support. This was not done by the representative of the UNHCR in Skopje either, who is persistently repeating that he would do nothing if the Macedonian government did not ask him to. And what will happen with these refugees by the end of the parliamentary elections when the government of Macedonia is expected to finally declare its stand concerning this issue, can only be assumed.

AIM Skopje

IBRAHIM MEHMETI