A flood of refugees has been entering
Macedonia since late March 1999; many are ethnic Albanians from Kosovo,
but some are Roma from Kosovo, yet other Roma are from Serbia. Kumanovo,
Macedonia is near the Serbian border and has received many people from
Serbia who have fled the NATO bombing, or the conflict on the ground. There
are also Roma fleeing ethnic hostility directed at them in Albania. Those
identified as coming from Kosovo are accepted as "refugees" by the Macedonian
government and the UNHCR; the others are "guests" or "tourists". The distinction
is critical: a refugee has the right to remain in the country, receive
medical treatment and humanitarian aid, and also the right to emigrate
to another country. Shabani is a Rom from Kosovo who has been registered
in Kumanovo as a refugee, but he was told by Stenkovec authorities that
one has to be Albanian or very rich to emigrate to another country; appeals
to the UNHCR have been fruitless. Some Roma refugees head into the refugee
camps; others seek billet accommodation with Roma families living in the
area.
The members of the Roma Community Centre "DROM" Kumanovo have been labouring
to assist Roma refugees in the camps and in private homes, providing food,
medical assistance, accommodation and other aid. The Macedonian Roma families
who are hosting Roma refugees are not wealthy; they need assistance to
provide food, medicine, clothing and bedding. In some cases Roma have experienced
discrimination or rejection by aid organisation staff workers perceiving
Roma as allied with the Serbians. DROM has drawn heavily on its own funds
to assist Roma and has worked with other local Roma organisations to distribute
aid consignments from the Soros Roma Participation Project and Karitas
Essen. This work has necessitated paying transport costs for the consignments,
hiring a truck to distribute the aid, and having volunteers work from early
morning to midnight. The stress on volunteers includes risk of ethnic disputes,
particularly when objections have been raised by Albanian refugees to Roma
receiving aid. Some volunteers resigned following such an incident. There
are large crowds of Roma outside the DROM centre every day.
While this is going on, DROM volunteer workers have to cope with visits
from representatives of non-government organisations and enquiries from
foreign media. Situation reports are translated into four languages, and
daily news releases are provided to RomNews <http://www.romnews.com>.
There are also conferences and meetings with other organisations for planning
and coordination. Submissions have to be prepared for improved social welfare
from the government.
DROM has invested particular energy in fostering and preserving good
ethnic relations. Normal tensions are inflamed by the stress of war, and
small incidents can easily trigger nasty mob reactions. For this reason
Roma seek help from Roma families and from DROM and other Romani organisations.
DROM has received several donations from individuals in England and
the USA, and help from a Romani organization in Australia. These funds
are greatly appreciated but will soon be exhausted helping needy families.
The annual budget DROM receives from the Soros Roma Participation Project
is almost depleted. They may soon run out of the resources needed to continue
helping Roma refugees if more donations are not received soon. Donations
can be sent to the DROM bank account:
Stopanska Banka a.d.-Skopje
SWIFT:STOB MK 2X
Bank account: 40100-623-79
ZPP-Kumanovo- 40900-678-6121
Mailing Address:
Roma Community Centre "DROM" Kumanovo
Lokalitet serava prizemje 7a, 91300 Kumanovo
MACEDONIA
Tel/Fax: +(389) 90127558
Asmet Elezovski, e-mail: [email protected]