Contact Point for Roma and Sinti Issues
Vera Kurtic, one of the ODIHR’s
local contacts on Roma issues
in Serbia, at a meeting in
SARAH CROZIER
Skopje in June.
In 2006, the ODIHR continued a number of
projects in this regard from previous years. For
example, the Office lent support to the Roma
and Ashkali Documentation Centre in Pristina and its Mitrovica Office. The Centre helps
Roma IDPs in camps in Northern Mitrovica and
returnees present their interests and requests to
the authorities that are responsible for addressing their problems. The Pristina Centre also
facilitates communication between the representatives of IDP camps and the UNMIK personnel in charge of the implementation of the
Return to Roma Mahalla Project.
The ODIHR also supported the organization
of several meetings of Roma IDPs from Kosovo
and asylum-seekers in South-Eastern Europe
and the European Union in order to share information and debate different perspectives on the
reconstruction of the Roma Mahalla and prospects for return and integration into Kosovar
society. The goal of the meetings was for Roma
representatives in Kosovo and Roma from
Kosovo who are currently living in EU countries to reach a common position regarding the
above-mentioned issues. Participants drafted a
common declaration with requests and recom-
mendations that was sent to the authorities in
Kosovo.
The ODIHR also provided support to the
Kosovo Roma and Ashkali Forum, a network
comprising most of the Roma and Ashkali organizations in Kosovo, to organize a series of meetings to develop a political position and to make
a contribution to international talks on the status of Kosovo and to the initiative to elaborate
a comprehensive strategy for the integration of
the Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian communities
into Kosovar society.
Annual Report
81
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents