5 hours agoUN criticised for neglect of Roma in Kosovo
Periskopi(7 years ago)
(7 years ago)The United Nations has been sharply criticised by one of its human rights experts because of its failure to compensate for hundreds of Roma families who had been forced to live for many years exposed to toxic wastes in Kosovo, causing them disabilities and perhaps even death. Survivions of about 600 [...]
The benefits from some 600 Roma families “require individual compensation and a public apology from the United Nations”, said Bask Tuncak, a United Nations expert on monitoring cases related to dangerous substances.
In a statement, he has said that he is deeply disappointed by the neglect the United Nations has shown regarding the case he has said highlighted the organization's integrity.
There has been no immediate response from the UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations or other offices that could be linked to the issue.
Roma families in Kosovo, as writes “New The York Times”, Time.net states, had been forced in 1999 to live in UN camps a year after the war broke out. Camps were created in areas affected by the remains of a lead smelter.
According to Tuncak, children under 14 are about half the population in the camps. Families have complained about toxic waste for many years because of causing them disabilities and potentially fatal diseases.
Tuncaku critics have come three years after a UN human rights panel reviewed the case and found that the UN Mission in Kosovo had neglected the case.
The panel had decided in a 2016 report that UNMIK was responsible for the impacts on the development of people who were born and raised in camps.
UNMIK had taken action to protect UN peacekeepers from exposure to dust waste in 2000, but had done nothing for Roma families in camps by 2006, Tuncak said on Wednesday.
Probably led to the death of some children and adults. According to Tuncak, other residents still have health problems.
A year after the panel report, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres had expressed the deep “regret for family suffering, but it was stopped at compensation.
In a response to the panel's criticism, the United Nations had said they would establish a fund for projects to help Roma families and others living in camps. It was said to call contributions from international donors, expressing hope that it could reach up to $5m.
The fund was launched in 2017 and no donation was obtained, according to Tuncak, followed by Koha.net. He has criticised the fund, which he said does not offer proper justice.
The UN's “integrity is in question. It must reform its effort and mobilise in the need to implement advisory panel recommendations without any additional delay of”, Tuncak has said.
