Valley Albanians Resist, Serbia After Outlined Over 60,000 Addresses

Now and how many years they have moved to Kosovo, but the same do not even have permission. They are being tortured to provide such documents, while Kosovo's citizenship has little hope. They say lack of documentation is making life difficult for them. On the other hand, there are over 60,000 addresses which have been repeated by the Government of Serbia. Kosovo's prime minister, days ago, has promised that it will ease these procedures for citizens from the valley.

Fikri Mehmet's family had been displaced more than two decades ago in Gjilan. He and his family members are not equipped with any identification documents. While telling of Kosovo, I expect all the difficulties it is facing as the cause of lack of documentation.

“We face many problems, it's about a full Kurclip to live as a citizen in the Republic of Kosovo. We understood the provisional government, which was released immediately after the war and had no case to resolve this issue. But we haven't understood the government after declaring independence, which has consistently set difficult and serious criteria. It was the insurance criterion of the bank's 5,000-euro bank, the rich in personal name. Which I don't believe that no citizen in Kosovo can fill these as well as themselves living here”, Mehmeti shows.

He has applied dozens of times since 2015 for permission to stay in Kosovo, while there is no hope for identification.

“We have applied since 2015 repeatedly we have been granted permission to stay. It's about permission to stay because for identification in Kosovo, once hope is zero. We have come to testify with documents from Serbia from the Ministry of Internal Affairs that we don't have any kind of documents there, no ID or passport. He has not been recognized, in some cases he has not. They have made double standards, and every time we applied we have had various difficulties”, he says, among other things.

Mehmeti adds that whenever he has wanted to apply, more than 13 documents have been asked.

In the same situation are over 4 thousand valley Albanians, who dozens of times applied for document security, and have been refused.

You don't have a job contract, most of us had to cut off the contract because he didn't have a chance to keep it in <x1 black”. Others cannot bind a crown; they cannot follow different courses or trainings. They can't just log into the employment facility. Sometimes they can't enjoy the healings that the hospital has to offer for free. It also goes to that level that our dead can't easily be buried because it requires identification of who they are”, he relates.

Someone else is also being unable to visit relatives in Kosovo. Mr.S, who descended from Medvedja, in condition of anonymity, shows that several days ago he returned to Geneva Airport in Switzerland, since he was not equipped with Kosovo identification.

I have now booked my ticket to Kosovo. On my flight day I returned to Geneva Airport in Switzerland. I'm equipped with residence permits in Switzerland, and I have Serbia's passport. But, they have wanted guarantees that allow me to enter Pristina airport. When I called her I was told that not”, she says.

However, she adds that from the Kosovo Embassy to Geneva, she has been told she can travel with these documents.

With these troubles, National Council of Albanians Chairman Ragmi Mustaf says residents of the valley are now facing two decades.

Kosovo's “Albanians have since not registered as refugees in Kosovo. Having not been registered as refugees in Kosovo, they have been left without documents, and so far no government is directly receiving their legal status, respectively. With the progress process launched by the Republic of Serbia through the Ministry of Internal Affairs, abstract residents have begun to remain. People who don't have any documents from any state”, Mustaf declares.

In this regard, Prime Minister Albin Kurti had promised it would ease documentation insurance procedures from Albanians from the Presevo Valley.

“I am also in touch with Interior Minister Jedal Svela about the discrimination in which the Albanians of Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanoc took place without their blame. And he's working on this job to get rid of this huge 5,000-euro piece of evidence, and at one of the next meetings we're gonna bring this too for the decision so that it doesn't go on as far as it needs to be rich so that you're mobile”, Kurti said.

Kosova Prees has sent questions to the Interior Ministry's Information Office, but the same haven't answered

On the other hand, the failure of addresses of the residents of Medvedja, Presevo and Bujanoc, Mustafi considers it a hidden administrative process, with the aim of ethnic cleansing.

We consider that according to some estimates there may be 3,000 to 4,000 in Medvedja, 2000 in the Bujanoc Presevo. Albanian citizens who are selectively targeted by misusing the Law on Home Affairs Ministry settlements, respectively, from the Medvedja, Presevo and Bujanoc stations, has begun the process of austerity since 2011 and has already taken on even more massive proportions. What is extremely disturbing for us in this case is this approach of the Republic of Serbia, which is a xenophobe approach, rather, albanophobic to Albanians”, he says. Representatives from the Valley are asking the Kosovo government to include the issue of residents in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue. Among other things, the recognition of diplomas of students who are coming to Kosovo to study, but who are not working.