Displaced Roma in Kosovo to leave lead-tainted camps, UN says
A newly-refurbished camp will open on Monday for internally displaced Roma populations in Kosovo that are enduring
unhealthy lead levels in their present dwellings, the United Nations Mission in that province (UNMIK) announced today.
The displaced Roma will be temporarily housed in Camp Osterode, recently vacated by French forces, until the ongoing
reconstruction of their permanent homes in northern Kosovo is completed.
UNMIK said that the new camp will closely follow recommendations by the World Health Organization (WHO), to protect
children and pregnant women from lead poisoning. The mission has offered to help the Roma relocate.
This past June, Dr. Walter Kalin, a UN expert on the rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs) appealed to the
international community to provide resources to evacuate the Roma population affected by lead poisoning in camps in
Northern Mitrovica.
`Camp Osterode, which had housed a French unit of the international Kosovo Force (KFOR), was refurbished with
contributions from international donors. According to UNMIK, the Camp offers access to health and hygiene
infrastructure, social supports, children's programmes as well as employment and training opportunities for residents.
In a meeting in Camp Osterode today, representatives of UNMIK, WHO, and other agencies and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) working in the camps called on Roma leaders to support an immediate relocation to the new camp
following its opening on 9 January.
Most of the displaced came from the major Roma neighbourhood, known as the Roma Mahala, which was destroyed during the
conflict between majority Albanians, Serbs, and Yugoslav forces in 1999. The UN has administered Kosovo since NATO
forces drove out the Yugoslav troops that year.
Reconstruction of the Roma Mahala has started, with the first phase of rubble clearing completed and work on the first
two buildings planned.