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KOSOVO - CRISIS FOR ROMA IN
LEAD-TOXIC CAMPS - WOMEN & CHILDREN
Council of Europe
Kosovo*:
Commissioner Hammarberg Calls for Stop of Forced Returns and Immediate
Evacuation of Roma from Lead-Contaminated Camps
Strasbourg,
15.02.2010 - After the second visit within ten months to the lead-contaminated
Roma camps of Česmin Lug and Osterode in northern Kosovo, the Council of
Europe Commissioner for Human Rights, Thomas Hammarberg, deplored that the
situation for the inhabitants remains the same: “The fact that the camps have
been inhabited for a full decade is no less than a scandal. The international
community has a large part of the responsibility for this situation.”
The lead
permeates the soil, water and air, and the inhabitants', especially children's,
lives in the camps are seriously damaged.
“The
approximately 600 inhabitants need new, safe housing so that the camps can be
closed. They are all in urgent need of medical treatment”, underlined the
Commissioner in connection with his visit in Kosovo in the middle of February.
Thomas
Hammarberg also expressed his concern that several European governments are
forcibly returning refugees to Kosovo. According to UN statistics more than
2 500 persons were returned from European countries during 2009. Some of
the Roma returnees have ended up in the lead-contaminated camps. The refugees
are mainly from Austria, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland.
“I call on
European states to stop the forced returns until Kosovo can provide adequate
living conditions, health care, schooling, social services and employment”,
said the Commissioner.
Kosovo has
already signed readmission agreements with several countries. However,
20 000 internally displaced persons within Kosovo, and an unemployment
rate of approximately 50 percent, clearly indicate that the country does not
yet have the infrastructure that would allow a sustainable reintegration of
refugees.
“A number of
refugees have lived in the host countries for many years, and their children
are born there, speak the language fluently and have no connection with Kosovo.
The result is that many refugees return to the host countries as soon as
possible”, underlined Commissioner Hammarberg.
* “All
reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, in
this text shall be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security
Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.”
________________________________________________________________________
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,4429903,00.html
Roma children are particularly in danger from toxic lead levels
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/06/23/kosovo-act-now-close-poisoned-camps
KOSOVO - CRISIS CONDITIONS FOR ROMA
IN LEAD-TAINTED CAMPS
June 23, 2009
(Brussels) - The Kosovo authorities need to work with
international donors to close lead-contaminated camps occupied by
internally displaced Roma without delay, relocate their inhabitants, and
provide medical treatment for lead poisoning, Human Rights Watch said in a
report released today.
The 68-page report, "Poisoned by Lead: A Health and Human Rights Crisis in Mitrovica's Roma Camps," tells the story of a decade of failure by the UN and others to provide adequate housing and medical treatment for the Roma, and the devastating consequences for the health of those in the camps.
"Roma have been stuck in these poisoned camps for a decade," said Wanda Troszczynska-van Genderen, Western Balkans researcher at Human Rights Watch. "How long would the UN and Kosovo officials put up with it if their own families were forced to live in a place like that?"
The Roma district in the northern city of Mitrovica was attacked by ethnic Albanians in June 1999. By June 24, the district had been looted and burned to the ground, and its 8,000 inhabitants had fled. Many were resettled by the UN in camps in a heavily contaminated area located near a defunct lead mine. The move was originally intended to be temporary, yet about 670 Roma still live in camps near the site, with damaging consequences for their health.
Despite the widely known high levels of toxicity in areas surrounding the defunct Trepca mine complex (first documented by the UN in 2000), all but one of the Roma camps are in close proximity to the slagheaps. The other camp is in Leposavic, 45 kilometers to the northwest. The location of the camps and the poor living conditions within them has damaged the health of the residents, especially children, who are vulnerable to extended exposure to lead.
"It is clear that lead contamination has damaged the health of people in the camps," said Troszczynska-van Genderen. "Children are especially badly affected, with some suffering from stunted physical and mental growth."
Small-scale testing for lead contamination and "chelation therapy" (treatment designed to remove lead from blood), carried out by doctors and nurses, took place a few times between 2004 and 2007, focusing on children. The testing and treatment were coordinated by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and the World Health Organization. But no comprehensive testing and treatment has ever been carried out.
In 2007, the UN Mission decided to halt treatment, and testing was discontinued after the erroneous conclusion (based on the assumption that the Roma would be soon moved out of the camps) that it was no longer required. Subsequent testing by the north Mitrovica hospital, requested by camp residents, indicated that some children continued to have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood. Excessive lead levels in the human body can cause damage to the nervous and reproductive systems, as well as kidney failure. Very high lead levels result in coma and death. Lead is particularly harmful to children, as it can cause irreversible brain damage.
There was almost no attention to the health emergency in the camps until 2004, when local and international Roma activists began to raise concerns in the media, and sought to force action through (ultimately unsuccessful) legal challenges in the Kosovo courts and at the European Court of Human Rights.
In 2006, after pressure from United Nations human rights bodies and nongovernmental organizations and critical media coverage, the UN mission closed two of the three most contaminated camps, Zitkovac and Kablare. Around 450 residents were helped to return to their homes in Mitrovica, while others were moved to another temporary camp (Osterode). The new temporary camp, 150 meters away, is heavily exposed to toxins carried by wind coming from lead slagheaps, but authorities claimed that it was "lead safer" because its concrete surfaces and running water mitigated the lead contamination.
The third camp ("Cesmin Lug") remained, with its inhabitants reluctant to move to the new temporary camp because it was still in the area of contamination.
Little has been done in the last decade to assist the Roma who remain in the camps to leave and find permanent homes, either by returning to their former homes in Mitrovica or elsewhere. Some Roma returned to Mitrovica in 2007 when two camps closed, but found they did not have access to jobs or to Kosovo welfare assistance there, and therefore had no means of support.
In May 2008, as the UN mission prepared to downsize its presence in Kosovo, it handed over management of the remaining camps to the Kosovo Ministry of Communities and Returns, which has no strategy to tackle the crisis. In addition, the camps are located in a municipality under the control of ethnic Serbs, who do not accept the jurisdictions of the new Kosovo government, led by ethnic Albanians.
The Kosovo authorities recently established a coordination group, led by the prime minister's office and including the US and European Commission, to develop a plan to tackle the crisis. But much more work, including greater financial and political support from major donors and a stronger focus on medical testing and treatment, will be required to turn the idea into reality.
"After 10 years, it's about time we had some momentum to solve this problem," said Troszczynska-van Genderen. "It is vital that the US and EU work with the authorities in Kosovo, including in Serb-controlled municipalities, to solve the crisis."
Human Rights Watch recommends that the Kosovo authorities and international donors act to organize a long-term solution including:
·
The
urgent medical evacuation of current camp residents to acceptable temporary
housing;
·
The
permanent closure of the remaining camps;
·
Urgent
treatment for lead contamination for all current and former residents;
·
A
long-term housing solution based on the wishes of the residents; and
·
Access
to welfare, medical treatment, education, and employment.
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