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11 06 2009 The Life in Kosovo show broadcast on June 11 discussed Roma camps in northern Kosovo.
What is happening with the so-called “shame camps” in northern Kosovo? What is the level of blood poisoning of citizens living in these camps? Who should be responsible for improving the standard of living for Roma in the camps?
To discuss these issues, and others regarding the camps, Muhamet Hajrullahu’s guests were:
Shaip Muja, adviser to the Prime Minister and government coordinator for the Roma camps
Bajram Rexhepi, Mayor of the Municipality of Mitrovica
Hilmi Jashari, representative from the Ombudsperson Office
Zylfi Merxha, representative of the Roma community and MP in the Parliament of Kosovo
Zeqir Vesaj, environmental expert.
Before the debate started, BIRN broadcast a powerful documentary on the Roma community living in these camps, concentrating on the conditions in which they lead their lives in this contaminated zone.
Back in the studio, the debate started with a question to the representative from the government. Asked what the government has done so far to definitively fix this problem, Shaip Muja, adviser to the Prime Minister said that the camps were inherited from the former UN administration in Kosovo, UNMIK, and had not been under the local control until March 2008.
“Since March 2008, through the Ministry for Community and Returns, the government has an indirect approach for maintaining the Cheshmin Lug and Osterode camps, by offering social support in terms of healthcare, hygiene and security,” explained Muja, adding that as a head of the commission for Roma camps, he is working, together with the donors, to improve the lives of people living there.
Bajram Rexhepi, mayor of Mitrovica municipality, said that he had spoken to both UNHCR and OSCE about the issue, and said that donors’ assistance was helping the situation. But, according to him, it is only the local and state institutions that could resolve this issue.
“We are ready to meet any reasonable requirements, but needless to say at the moment we are hesitating,” said Rexhepi, adding that Mitrovica, as a municipality, has fulfilled only some of its responsibilities towards the community living in the camps.
The show also raised the question of what the Parliament has done to speed up the process of moving Roma families back to safer zones. Zylfi Merxha, MP at the Parliament of Kosovo, said that it wasn’t the case that the institutions are not doing enough, but that people who live there do not want to move because of some financial benefits they receive from Serbia. Merxha also added that speaking about moving the Roma community from the camps has never been welcomed by institutional authorities, including parliament.
“I believe that both the Mayor of Mitrovica and the government of Kosovo are working hard to return this community back to their houses,” added Merxha.
The Ombudsperson said that these camps should be closed because they violate basic human rights, and because of the health implication of living in those camps.
Asked to assess the situation in the camps, Hilmi Jashari, representative from the Ombudsperson office, said that the office is concerned about the health of the inhabitants there, especially children.
“Our main concerns, however, were the implementation of the legislations and conventions that guarantee an adequate protection of the dignity of people living in the camps. So, based on this and other information that came out in regards to the camps, on July 2008 I started the investigation and realised that the majority of the inhabitants of the camps were poisoned, not only with lead, but also with other 36 other metals,” said Jashari, adding that there are more than 100 million tonnes of toxic residuals.
However, according to the information from BIRN journalist, once the host of the show, Muhamet Hajrullahu, lead poisoning is not just a problem for people who live in the camps, but the entire region of Mitrovica, including Zvecan and Vushtrri, which are regarded as the most polluted parts of Kosovo.
Zeqir Vesaj, environmental expert, said that the problem could be divided into three main areas: the aspect of the source of the pollution, the aspect of processing the pollution, and the aspect of accepting the pollution.
“As we all know, the source of pollution is Trepça complex, since 1939 – meaning the lead pollution is not a ten-year old problem. It is an inherited problem, which hasn’t been dealt with for the ten years of UNMIK administration and that has been passed to our government,” said Vesaj, adding that t was a good move for the Prime Minister to put the case of camps in the agenda for this year.
BIRN finished the show with the Culture in Kosovo section, where Arif Muharremi reported on two festivals: 40Bunarfest held in Prizren and the Freedom Fest in Prishtina.
Life in Kosovo is a co-production between Kosovo Public Television, RTK and the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN. It is broadcast every Thursday, starting at 20:20.
At the beginning of 2010 BIRN network published Digging Deeper - A Guide for Investigative Journalists in the Balkans, written in cooperation with Sheila Coronel, Director of the Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism and professor of professional practice at Columbia University, New York.
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