The Secretary General of the UN issued his quarterly report about the UN mission in Kosovo. The report contains extensive information about problems in the implementation about the return strategy. The situation in the camps in North Mitrovica is also addressed. The report is available here.

A new report by the Rroma Foundation in Switzerland analyses the "Situation of Rroma after Independence". The report concludes: "In any case, returning minority refugees will not be able to lodge themselves, thus landing as up until recently in camps such as Plementina or the Mitrovica camps; will not be able to find work, and this not because of lack of qualifications or general lack of work in the region but because of ongoing discrimination; will not be able to get access to social or health services, because of their appurtenance but also because of the unresolved citizenship issues; in brief, will have no future or choice but to leave again." The full report is available here.

Vertreter des Vereins der Roma-Lehrer für Schulbildung und Kultur aus dem Kosovo e.V. und von Romane Aglonipe e.V. haben der Innenministerkonferenz in Potsdam eine Petition überreicht, die am 3. Oktober dieses Jahres auf einer Versammlung von Roma in Deutschland verabschiedet wurde. Darin wird ein sicherer Aufenthaltsstatus für Roma gefordert, die vor dem Krieg aus dem Kosovo nach Deutschland geflüchtet waren.

The European Commission released its 2008 progress report about Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, as well as Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo. The report about Kosovo concluded there was little progress in the province and institutions were weak. We are presenting extracts from the report concerning the situation of ethnic minorities (Source: Romano Them). The full report is available here.

Die Schweizerische Flüchtlingshilfe SFH nimmt in einem vierseitigen Papier Stellung zur Beurteilung von Gesuchen von asylsuchenden Roma, Ashkali, «Ägypterinnen und Ägypter» aus Kosovo - anknüpfend an ihre früheren Positionen und gestützt auf eine neue Lageanalyse.

http://www.osar.ch/2008/10/10/kosovo_roma

In reaction to the nomination of the Finnish diplomat Martti Ahtisaari to the Peace Nobel Prize, Romano Them said that the Kosovo Roma have no reason to join the chorus of congratulants. "Mr. Ahtisaari's achievements in bringing back peace in other parts of the world are undeniable, but in the case of the Kosovo Roma his action was a complete failure.", the organisation added.

The organisations Romane Anglonipe and the Verein der Rroma-Lehrer für Schulbildung und Kultur aus dem Kosovo e.V. have launched a petition against the forced repatriation of Roma to Kosovo. The petition will be submitted on the occasion of the meeting of the German conference of the Ministers of Interior in November. Deadline for submission is 14 November 2008. The forms are available here (german).

Die Schweizerischen Flüchtlingshilfe SFH hat ein Update zur ihrer Länderanalyse Kosovo herausgebracht. Der Bericht kann hier herunter geladen werden: http://www.osar.ch/2008/08/12/kosovo_update_situation

 In its most recent report to the Security Council, the UN Secretary General provides a brief account of the fact that the Kosovo Ministry of Communities and Returns has committed itself to "the overall responsibility and funding of the management of the Osterode camp" in Northern Kosovo, which were formerly assured by UNMIK. The report however remains entirely silent about the new lead crisis which erupted after tests carried out on the children in these camps showed that the lead levels in their blood has remained dramatically high.

The human rights in Kosovo are unsatisfactory as serious violations of human rights were registered in the past year, Kosovo's acting ombudsmanHilmi Jashari said on Monday.