Roma in Kosovo: displaced, poisoned, ignored

On the occasion of International Romani Day (April 8), the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) calls on the United Nations and its member states to finally take responsibility for the massive human rights violations against displaced Roma, Ashkali, and Balkan Egyptians. Until today, many survivors are still suffering from the consequences of systematic neglect, poverty, and health issues as a result of lead poisoning.

Following the war in Kosovo in 1999, around 560 members of these minority groups were displaced by Kosovo Albanians. Under the responsibility of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), they were housed on the heavily contaminated grounds of the former Trepča lead mine in North Mitrovica. The camps were highly contaminated with lead, arsenic, and other heavy metals. “The Society for Threatened Peoples had soil samples taken in the camps. Lead, arsenic, and 37 other heavy metals were found. An environmental medicine specialist examined hair samples from 66 children and found the highest levels of heavy metals ever recorded in human hair,” explained Jasna Causevic, who had coordinated the fact-finding mission at that time.

The health consequences are devastating: developmental disorders in children, miscarriages, brain and organ damage... Recent research by the STP has shown that many of the victims living in South Mitrovica today are sick, poor, and isolated. There are reports about catastrophic living conditions, squalid accommodation, lack of medical care, and a complete lack of prospects for the future.

In 2016, the UN Human Rights Advisory Panel found that UNMIK was responsible for violations of the fundamental rights of those affected – including the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, as well as several UN conventions such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UN did not react to calls for an apology or compensation. A trust fund initiated by General Secretary António Guterres turned out to be ineffective. Troubled by disease, poverty, and neglect, the people in Kosovo were left to fend for themselves. “However, there is the fundamental problem of disenfranchisement, antiziganism, and discrimination – causing the affected families to be excluded from participation and social inclusion. The honorable institutions and their bodies, which failed to do their job, are preoccupied with lawyers who are trying to absolve those responsible of any responsibility,” Causevic explained.

In 2023, UN Special Rapporteur Fabian Salvioli once again called for the victims to be compensated. The STP joins this demand, calling for immediate compensation and a legal reckoning for the failures – and for a moratorium on new mining projects until the legacy issues have been remediated and the victims have been compensated.