Pristina: About sixty people have occupied a two-floor building, in the northern part of the ethnically divided city Mitrovica, 38 Km north of Kosovo capital Pristina.

Alexander Damianovic of the Serbian ethnic origin is amidst them. After transiting through various places in former Yugoslavia, he arrived in Mitrovica in 2001.

He is a refugee of the Serbo-Croatian conflict in 1995 and lives with his daughter in just one room. Damianovic’s two other children were sent to a centre in Kraljevi in southern Serbia. His mentally sick wife lives in the same building, but attempts to send her to mental asylum failed.

Damianovic said, “We are supposed to receive 50 euros per month as social support, but the last four months we did not get even this. Just the medicines I need cost 30 euros a month.”

In east of Mitrovica, the Albanian family of the Jassaris has occupied an abandoned and semi-demolished Serbian house.

Debran Jassari said, “The municipality promised us an apartment eight years ago but we never got it. We live nine of us in two rooms, and receive help only from people who sometimes bring food or flour.”

Another Albanian, Mustaf Istrefi lives with his nine family members in Stari Trg. Just on 100 euros that he makes every month, Istrefi has raises his seven children.

In Kosovo, there are thousands of people like Damianovic, jassari, and Istrefi.

The Albanian majority in Kosovo demands full independence from Serbia. Serbs are concentrated in the northern part of Kosovo.

According to Public Information Unit of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Kosovo, “Official sources in Serbia, and in Montenegro, put the figure of internally displaced persons at more than 200,000. This figure includes Serbs, Montenegrins, Roma, Ashkaelia, Egyptian, Muslim, Bosniak, Gorani and others (but excludes Albanian).”

Around 21,000 displaced people have moved within Kosovo.

Touncho Zourlev, a Kosovo Property Agency (KPA) enforcement officer, said, “Kosovo has received 30 million euros per year since 1999 for constructing alternative housing. This is a lot of money. But who can tell what happened with it. About an equal amount for social support is reported to have been sent into Kosovo from Belgrade, supposedly to take care of ethnic Serbs.”

KPA is the international body responsible for reclaiming and administering property on behalf of refugees. KPA officials have admitted that they disregard their obligations towards the poor and homeless.