Deportees and Refugees in Macedonia

Life Between Walls or Wire Fences

AIM Skopje, 16 May, 1999

The end of the first tide of banished persons from Kosovo, the number of which stopped at about quarter of a million, brought certain relief to the Macedonian government which in mid May declared that it would allow as many banished Kosovars to enter as are received by western countries. And as western countries are in no hurry with reception of deportees in their countries it seemed that tensions would increase again. "Salvation" came in the form of empty border crossing which was crossed by just a few persons for days. The puzzle everybody tried to solve, starting from NATO to journalists of local media, was the reason which led to cessation of the rush of deported Kosovars into Macedonia. The answer arrived in the form of a Reuters' analysis that a secret agreement between Yugoslav president Milosevic and Macedonian president Gligorov was the reason for the interruption of the inflow of people from Kosovo and Metohija. The immediate cause for such speculations was the letter of Macedonian president addressed to his counterpart in Belgrade which was later published by the media. On the basis of what was made known of the contents of this letter it is impossible to say that it is a concrete agreement, but the very fact that the letter is quite intimate raises doubt that "there is something in it". About reasons why he had written this letter, Gligorov declared that with it he wished to "open the eyes" of Milosevic, literally claiming that he had wished to say the truth about what was going on in FRY because he feared that people around Milosevic were not telling him the whole truth. He, of course, used the opportunity to praise the courage of the Serb people, which is a specific cult in Macedonian ethnic community, but at the same time made it clear to Milosevic that it was impossible to fight against 19 powerful countries. So far there has been no reply, the only reaction was gratitude of Yugoslav foreign minister. Gligorov did not even receive a return call from Milosevic, whom he had called a month ago, but he was allegedly busy with talks with Primakov at the time.

But it seems that Gligorov does not intend to give up on his mission to call his Belgrade counterpart to his senses, not minding the speculations that he is scheming with him on certain sensitive issues causing additional mistrust among NATO partners. An illustration of results of such Macedonian policy is the fact that after the Washington summit Macedonia is further away from reception in NATO than it was before the beginning of the attack on FRY.

Macedonian policy is not more sophisticated when organizing of life for deportees from Kosovo is concerned either. Although the second month is expiring since the first tide of deportees has arrived, the life of Kosovars can be brought down to mere physical survival. Almost complete Albanian intellectual elite from Kosovo is in Macedonia, but they are shut down in their small worlds which are most frequently enicircled by walls of houses in which they are accommodated thanks to solidarity of their ethnic brethren in Macedonia. Those less fortunate, the so-called "ordinary people" or those who have no relatives or friends in Macedonia, live their life between wire fences of tent camps, with almost no connections with the outer world.

The beginning of publication of Koha ditore daily is the unique form of organised life of the Kosovars in Macedonia. This newspaper is now distributed free of charge in camps and via humanitarian organizations to families which receive humanitarian aid. There are indications that the known weekly Zeri might also appear soon, which will also be distributed to Kosovar families. Apart from that there is almost nothing, if taverns and cafes are excluded, which are full of people who know not what the next day might bring. As it is possible to learn, Macedonian government has refused the initiative to organize cultural clubs which would play the role of guardians of social life of the deportees and preserve their social identity which would help them pick up their social life once they return to Kosovo. This is not surprising in view of the strong anti-Albanian disposition in Macedonia ever since the deportees started arriving. Fear of loss of identity which is openly expressed is used as a starting point in treating the Kosovars, and on the other hand this repulsive policy is aimed at making life of the Kosovars as unpleasant as possible in order to make them want to leave as soon as possible.

It is also interesting that not even the civil organizations in this country have done anything to bring the deportees or the refugees closer to the local population. These organizations which are inert as it is due to the lack of experience in organizing or development of a civil society, simply withdrew into ethnic spheres, giving the government a free hand to deal with the problems as it best suits it.

Although camps are springing up like mushrooms after the rain and although there are several ten thusand persons in each, nobody bothered to organize any structure that could play the role of "local self-administration" which could represent the deportees in negotiations with the authorities on certain vital issues. There have already been plenty of opportunities to realize the need for such structures the absence of which can lead to serious incidents. It is whispered in Skopje that attempts of open rebellions in camps because of difficult living conditions have been prevented.

With the rise of outdoor temperature, a dilemma arises in the camps: what is worse - the cold or the heat? Low tents with a few ten people living in each, often members of different families, become unbearable when the sun heats the air in them up to summer temperate of thirty or more degrees centigrade. When in these camps, people have no other preoccupation but to wait, one can just try to imagine what sorts of situations this can cause. Some form of organised social life would certainly be a good buffer against possible conflicting situations, and it would at the same time help keep up the spirit of the people who have suffered great shocks.

International organizations are trying to play a certain role in this sense, but their attempts to help the unfortunate Kosovars all encounter negative reactions of the local population. In a situation in which the local population is experiencing a difficult economic and social crisis, reactions such as jealousy are easily predictable, but it seems that most of foreign organizations still have not realized this. That is how the vicious circle is closed within walls or wire fences, making the life of the deported quarter of a million Kosovars in Macedonia into life in a specific ghetto with no visible way out for the time being.

AIM Skopje

IBRAHIM MEHMETI