UNHCR condemns attacks on Serbs in the village of Zac
24. April 2010. | 07:17 07:22
Source: EMGportal
Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic called on representatives of UN international peace missions today to prevent violence against Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.
In Zac, a village near Istok in Kosovo and Metohija, unidentified persons during the night of April 21 and 22 pelted both UNHCR tent camps housing 26 families of Serb returnees with stones several times.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) condemned the throwing of stones at the Serbian families who returned to Zac and asked that those responsible be punished.
"The UNHCR appreciates the statements from all the responsible organs in Kosovo and hopes that they will continue to invest time and effort in preventing these kinds of incidents and that the perpetrators will be brought to justice," reads a statement by Eduardo Arboleda, the head of the UNHCR office in Serbia.
Arboleda underlined that the stance of the UNHCR was that all displaced persons in Kosovo and Metohija had the right to return to their homes and that they did not have to ask anyone's permission.
Prime Minister Mirko Cvetkovic called on representatives of UN international peace missions today to prevent violence against Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.
Cvetkovic said that the pressure being exerted by extremists on returnees and steps such as the removal of Serbian mobile phone networks by the interim authorities of the province are giving rise to new tensions and creating an atmosphere of uncertainty and fear among Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija.
Disconnecting Serbian communities in the province from the world is another attempt at isolating the Serbs in Kosovo-Metohija. The Serbian government insists on an urgent response by the UN peace missions UNMIK and EULEX to prevent violence and to work towards establishing a lasting peace in the southern Serbian province.
State Secretary with the Serbian Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija Oliver Ivanovic said Thursday that survival of Serb returnees in the Zac and Dragoljevac villages in the Istok municipality could be crucial for the decision of more displaced persons to return to Kosovo-Metohija.
The international community in the province fully supports the establishment of returnee villages and condemns the stoning of returnees in Zac, he said. There are about 800 people on the UNHCR list in Kraljevo only who have opted for return, he said. They are therefore carefully watching the fate of 29 families in Zac and 18 families in Dragoljevac, he said.
The much higher number of IDPs who have decided not to return to Kosovo must also be considered and they need help in integration, Ivanovic said. The Ministry for Kosovo-Metohija and the city of Kraljevo should apply for such projects together, he said. Ivanovic conferred with Kraljevo Mayor Lubisa Jovasevic and visited the UNHCR office.
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