REPORT ON A VISIT TO NOVI PAZAR
By Marija Simovic
On April 14th, 2006, I visited Novi Pazar with the intention of getting an insight into the current situation of the Roma from the settlement of Stari Batnjik. On this occasion I found out the following:
- When the Roma returned from Subotica, Ljiljana Krstic, secretary of the Red Cross of Novi Pazar, gave them blankets and sponges for sleeping. The Red Cross went out into the field several times hoping to find an adequate location for setting up a camp and even a UNHCR representative came from Belgrade to help solve the situation and find the best solution.
The locations Roma wanted for their camp are impossible - one is on the road to the Djurdjevi Stupovi monastery which is a historic site, and the other is Novopazarska Banja which is a tourist resort. The problem is also the indifference of the Commission for Refugees as the agency in charge of IDPs' housing.
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The romas new 'house' |
The situation in Novi Pazar is very difficult at the moment even for the domicile population - 38 families have been evacuated from their homes due to inundations. There are also around 200 locations hit by landslides making normal functioning in the town difficult", Ljiljana Krstic says.
I find out from one of the former inhabitants of Stari Batnjik now living under a bridge in Novi Pazar that the situation is very difficult, that he hopes for the other families to return soon and that some solution will be found for them all. They want to be together again, close to the town, because it is easier for them to find work, to collect waste materials and beg. The children don't go to school. He says they went to school when the Red Cross organized classes for them but they don't have personal documentation required for the enrollment in regular schools. His family is in a bad economic situation, they have 7 children and they have no money for private accommodation so they are living under a bridge. Everything they own is there - a "house", toilet and kitchen made from blankets and cardboard and a place for storing waste materials.
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 Some of the 'Batnjik' kids |
In front of the familys Diana |
His brother also lives under the same bridge with his family.
He can't tell the exact reason why they left Batnjik, except that they couldn't spend another winter there. There is no concrete answer to the question why they are coming back except that no one in Subotica cares about them. According to him, they hope someone arranges their documents so they can apply for child allowance, for the MOP and they hope a location for their settlement will be found. He says he knows they have made Ljiljana angry for not letting her know that they were leaving, but he says she will forget it, because what would they do without her. It is strange that they don't mention the commissioner for refugees.
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