B92 News, February 11, 2003
Kosovo repatriations uncertain, warns ombudsman
PRISTINA -- Kosovo's ombudsman has warned that the promised mass return of Serbs and other non-Albanians to Kosovo this year is quite unlikely.
If refugees return to Kosovo, it will be just a few thousand of them, said Marek Antoni Nowicki.
Nowicki said that the uncertain future of the province, together with restrictions on movement and a difficult economic situation had called the repatriation process into question.
The few people who did return would mainly go to villages where they wouldn’t get in anyone’s way, he added.
According to my analysis there is no future for the return of refugees to cities, because there is no place for them.
It's not just the lack of space, but property has been confiscated and all services are in the hands of the Albanians, said Nowicki, adding that the province had turned more and more into an Albanian-language region which would also cause problems for Serbs.
Serbs today think that they will go back to what is theirs in Kosovo, but it no longer exists.
Kosovo today is very different from the way it was in 1999 when they left.
Serbs are trying to work out how they can leave Kosovo and those who stay will live on the margins of society, the ombudsman warned, adding that Serbs were now trying to sell their property in the province
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