Back to the english site Tillbaka till hemsidan September - PRISTINA: UNMIK has transferred the jurisdiction of bus and railway transportation of Serbs and other ethnic minorities to Kosovo's Ministry of Traffic and Communications. "Glas javnosti", 1. 9. 2006.   - BELGRADE: Public assistance allowance (MOP) beneficiaries whose half family members are fit for work get this form of support 9 months per year because in June, July and August there is lots of seasonal work so "they can manage on their own". The social work centers don't use these three months to renew the applications for public assistance allowance, instead they do it from September 1st to 31st. The applications are processed and decisions are passed from October 1st to November 31st, so the beneficiaries get their money retroactively in December, usually just before New Year's Eve, which means that they don't get regular support for a total of 7 months in a year and they claim that inflation "eats up" the amounts which are small anyway. They say at the MInistry of Work, Employment and Social Policy that it is a procedure that has to be observed like that. "Glas javnosti", 1. 9. 2006.   - BELGRADE: Most ethnically motivated incidents in Serbia are directed against Roma. They are the weakest, the least organized and they ask for institutional protection the least, said Petar Ladjevic, director of the Government's Service for Human and Minority Rights, in an interview for the TANJUG news agency. "Roma have a higher level of ethnic mimicry than others and they try to get out of the way" so "the majority of unreported incidents are directed against this national minority in particular", Ladjevic said. He pointed out that the number of ethnically motivated incidents has very much decreased since the current government came into power, which has also been confirmed by numerous representatives of the international community. He said that these incidents have to be approached rationally because "it is not that there is none, it's that they shouldn't be exaggerated, as part of our news media tend to do". "Glas javnosti", 4. 9. 2006.   - BELGRADE: 250.000 foreigners visited Serbia in the first seven months of this year, of which the most numerous were the citizens of Bosnia&Herzegovina (30.213), Slovenia (28.915), Croatia (18.144), Germany (15.145) and Italy (14.883), and several thousand guests came from Greece, Macedonia, Austria, Great Britain and other countries. Most foreigners visited Belgrade (146.527), Novi Sad (20.078), Vrnjacka Banja (4.797), Kopaonik (4.729) and Zlatibor (4.621). "Glas javnosti", 4. 9. 2006.   - CRNA GORA: Ahead of the upcoming parliament elections in Montenegro, Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic placed a foundation stone for a new elementary school building next to the town cemetery and the newly built chapel. The school building for 2.000 pupils will be built next to the chapel and 30 meters from the tombstones of the deceased local citizens. "Glas javnosti", 5. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: Newborn infants and their mothers in the maternity wards in Serbia are marked like it was done 100 years ago, and not like the modern world - with invisible numbers impossible to wash off for as long as 3 weeks. So it still happens in Serbia that babies get switched by mistake, like the latest case in Sabac last weekend. The parents most probably won't sue the doctors of the hospital in Sabac because the mistake was discovered on time. "Glas javnosti", 6. 9. 2006. - CROATIA: The problems that Serb returnees have to face in Croatia could slow down this country's accession into the European Union, says yesterday's report by Human Rights Watch in which this organizations calls for Brussels to put pressure on Zagreb. The problems Serbs are faced with are violence, threats, loss of tenancy rights and restricted access to employment. "Glas javnosti", 6. 9. 2006. - MOSTAR: In Prijeka Grma near Mostar, a group of Bosniaks beat up two Serbs from Nevesinje who were in their car on their way home, Bosnian news media report. "While we were driving, we saw an opel omega block our way and when we stopped, the five attackers came out of the car and came at us. They immediately started punching us in the head, cursing our chetnik mother and insulting us", said 34-year-old Zoran Parovic. The FONET news agency reports that the attackers threatened him and 26-year-old Radenko Janjic not to drive on that road any more. Janjic sustained such injuries that he was kept in the hospital in Nevesinje for treatment. They say at Mostar Police Department that they know about the incident but they don't want to give out any details. "Glas javnosti", 12. 9. 2006. - KLINA: The recently rebuilt house of Velimir Vasic in Stupelj near Klina was blown up two nights ago, said Stojan Doncic, municipal coordinator in Klina. There was no one in the house and no one was hurt. According to Doncic, the house was rebuilt as part of the campaign of individual returns of Serbs to Kosovo. "Glas javnosti", 13. 9. 2006. - KOSOVSKA MITROVICA: Gorani pupils and teachers who teach in Serbian language, expressed in peaceful protests in various settlements in Gora their discontent with the decision of the Albanian education authorities in Pristina not to let them enter the school buildings until they abandon the curriculums of Serbia's Ministry of Education and sign contracts with Kosovo's Ministry of Education, announced the Coordination Center for Kosovo. "Glas javnosti", 13. 9. 2006. - BOSNIA&HERZEGOVINA: More than 500 Serb refugees from Glamoc Municipality have filed damages lawsuits because a military training field was constructed on their land for SFOR and the army of the Federation of Bosnia&Herzegovina. So far only 18 owners of the confiscated land and destroyed buildings have been paid, the payments totaling around 250.000 KM, TANJUG news agency reports. "Glas javnosti", 7. 9. 2006. - PRISTINA: At the end of September, UNMIK will hand over to the families the mortal remains of 23 Serbs exhumed from the mass grave in Voljak near Klina in Kosovo. "Glas javnosti", 9. 9. 2006. - NOVI SAD: The Main Architect of the city of Nis, Jovan Mandic, has announced that 20 apartments will be provided for refugees and local socially vulnerable persons, as part of a project of the UN Habitat. The apartments will not be constructed, but some of the existing housing units in Nis will be reconstructed. The future users will be paying nonprofit rent. Nis, Pancevo, Valjevo, Cacak, Kragujevac, Kraljevo and Stara Pazova are included in the program. "Danas", 12. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: An opinion poll conducted in Serbia between September 10th and 13th shows that when it comes to social relations, nationality has no importance for 71,88% of the citizens; only for 4,6% of the citizens, a person's nationality determines to a great degree whether they will establish a contact with him/her or not; 19,8% of the citizens still take into account a person's nationality in establishing social contacts, but to a small degree, which is probably the consequence of the recent tragic wars in former Yugoslavia. All the opinion polls conducted in the recent years show that the largest ethnic distance in Serbia is towards Albanians, then towards Bosniaks and Croats, and at the end of the list - towards Roma and Hungarians. On the other hand, Albanians show the largest distance towards Serbs. In geographical terms, the largest interethnic distance is registered in the south of Serbia and somewhat smaller in Sandzak. The studies show that interethnic distances are higher in Belgrade than in central Serbia and that the smallest distances have been registered in Vojvodina, which has the largest number of various national minorities. It is probably due to the living standard in Vojvodina which is higher than in other parts of Serbia and the economic links between the municipalities and regions within Vojvodina are closer than in the rest of Serbia. "Glas javnosti", 18. 9. 2006. - KRAGUJEVAC: 4-year-old Jovan Vujicic has no personal identification papers or documents. He doesn't even have a birth certificate or a medical care booklet, and he has never been vaccinated. This is all due to bureaucracy. His father Zivomir Vujic says that he has been trying for a couple of years to enroll his son in the birth register, but it has been impossible. "Jovan was born in Sweden. We were deported to Serbia in January 2004. Ever since I have been trying unsuccessfully to solve this problem. We have turned to all the competent authorities, including the Swedish Embassy. Our son practically doesn't exist as far as the municipal services in Kragujevac are concerned", Zivomir says. Zivomir worked as a violinist in Sweden and his wife worked as a cleaning lady. The assets worth 15.000 euros, which they acquired during the 3 years they spent in Sweden, stayed back in Boros. Now they live in Kragujevac, they are unemployed and they barely manage to get by. "Jovan got sick again a couple of days ago and I couldn't afford to take him to a private doctor. I wanted to kill myself. How many years it will take to get the documents for him?", Zivomir says. He says that since last October he has been trying to talk with the mayor of Kragujevac and ask him for help, but the mayor hasn't had time for him. Finally, the mayor's security threw Zivomir out of the mayor's office. The desperate father says that Jovan not being able to enjoy none of the children's rights guaranteed by the law is not the only problem, but he will not be able to enroll in school either. "I have the documents of his birth that we received in Sweden but it obviously isn't enough", Zivomir says. They say at the birth register office in Kragujevac that they have contacted the Swedish Embassy and they expect the problem to be solved very soon. They say that the Vujicic case is very complicated because Jovan's documentation submitted by his parents was incomplete so its processing has taken a long time. "Glas javnosti", 17. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: More and more IDPs from Kosovo decide to sell their properties in the Province, mostly due to the long time they have waited to return to their homes and due to their economic situation. According to some estimates, nearly 1/3 of displaced Serbs have already sold their properties in Kosovo, and at least another 1/3 plan to sell their properties although all these people would prefer to return to their homes. For example, Albanians have bought more than 75% of the houses and apartments belonging to Serbs in Kosovo Polje; before the arrival of KFOR, Pristina had a population of 280.000 and now the city has a population that consists of around 750.000 Albanians and 200 Serbs (including those working for the international institutions) and more than 1.000 apartments and houses belonging to Serbs in Pristina have been sold. Houses and apartments in many other municipalities in Kosovo are sold every day. "Glas javnosti", 1. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: Serbia's assistant minister of medical system plans and development, Dr Snezana Simic, has said that ambitious dislocation and protection plans are made for the Roma living on the mine-waste dump in Kosovska Mitrovica. Lead contents in the blood of 500 Roma children from these settlements has been determined and adequate therapy has started. "The Roma are a vulnerable population and we have budget funds that we are trying to spend rationally in order to improve the health situation among the Roma, based on the partnership between Roma NGOs and our health institutions", Simic said and announced that the money for these projects will be transferred on October 1st. "Glas javnosti", 16. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: Because they can't register their stay, i.e. address in the illegal settelements, Romas can't use their right to medical care, employment, education and social security, said yesterday the representatives of the Minority Rights Center and the Secretariat for Roma National Strategy at the presentation of the publication "Romas and the right to the status of a legal subject". Schools refuse to accept the enrollment of Roma children because they lack proper documentation, doctors ask them to turn around and go back from the doorsteps of their offices, and local politicians and organizations, among which there are lots of Roma organizations, are full of promises that Romas will finally "enter the system" and that the promised well-being definitely won't exclude the Roma. However, the only thing that has been done so far is the Draft Strategy Paper for Integration and Granting New Powers to the Roma. The Draft has never been adopted. "Romas live unregistered because they lack legal residence basis, and this problem is especially acute in Belgrade. It is necessary to amend the Regulation on the Definition of Home Numbers and Addresses, decide the names of the settlements, determine the actual situation and order the Ministry of Police to issue instructions for the Roma on how to register their residence. It is also necessary to organize campaigns to introduce the Roma to the registration procedures, to issue brochures, provide legal aid and advice for those who need them - says Petar Antic, executive director of the Minority Rights Center and author of the brochure "Romas and the right to the status of a legal subject". There are 19.551 Romas from Kosovo registered in Serbia, but it is believed that the number is much higher - around 50.000. "According to the 2002 census, there were 19.191 Romas in Belgrade, and according to the records of the Association for the Investigation of Roma Settlements from the same year - there were 36.702 Romas in Belgrade. The most vulnerable are those living in the slums and unhygienic settlements", says Radule Perovic of the "Argument" Agency that conducted a research in the area of Belgrade. "One of the major problems is that there is no special agency or institution to deal with the concrete problems of the Romas. In theory everything can be solved, but when a decision is to be implemented in practice, then there is no one to do it. The registration of the Roma is the base for every other project", says Ljuan Koka, head of the Secretariat for Roma National Strategy of the Government's Service for Human and Minority Rights. "Glas javnosti", 15. 9. 2006. - NOVA VAROS: In the coming days, 16 refugee families will move into the newly constructed apartment building. The construction was financed by the Danish Refugee Council with 80.000 euros and Novi Varos Municipality participated with 50.000 euros. Besides moving into the apartments, the refugees will also get from the Danish Refugee Council 250 euros per family member. "Glas javnosti", 14. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: A draft law on refugees will soon be on the agenda of the Parliament of Serbia and it will most probably be adopted in order to replace the existing Law on Refugees adopted in 1992, which is outdated - said the deputy commissioner for refugees of the Republic of Serbia, Nikola Vukojevic, at a round table on the "Integration of refugees in Serbia - situation and perspectives". As Vukojevic explained for "Danas", the new law provides for the refugees to get a permanent right to use the apartments where they are housed temporarily. "The new law enables the refugees to purchase the apartments at 50% of the market price, while those who participated in the construction will have a 70% discount. We have 3.000 newly constructed apartments. If an apartment costs 10.000 euros on average, after the apartments are sold to the tenants, 30 million euros will be raised. The funds would be renewed in this way and could be used for building new apartments for refugees", Vukojevic said and added that the Government "will push for the purchase of village households for refugees". "Danas", 19. 9. 2006. - KLINA: Two nights ago, a bomb was thrown through the window into the apartment of the Pavlovic family of Serb nationality in Klina. At the moment of the explosion, Milorad Pavlovic, his wife, his mother and their cousin were in the apartment. All four of them are recovering from severe head injuries in the hospital in Pec. Sanda Raskovic-Ivic, president of the Coordination Center for Kosovo, says that the terrorist attack on the returnees in Klina is another message to Serbs, especially to returnees, that they are not welcome in Kosovo. Fatmir Seholi, spokesman for the Kosovo Minister of Return Slavisa Petkovic, condemns the attack but he says it shouldn't be qualified in advance as an ethnically motivated attack because, he says, this was 11th bomb attack in Kosovo in the last 20 days and not all of them were directed against Serbs. "Glas javnosti", 21. 9. 2006. - SKOPJE: Every month the Macedonian Parliament pays 3.000 denars (around 50 euros) to each of its members for mobile telephone bills, and up to 4 times as much to the heads of the Parliament's coordination groups. The Parliament has been paying its members' telephone bills for 6 years now in order to facilitate their communication with the people, but the MPs still hide their mobile telephone numbers. "Glas javnosti", 21. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: The UNHCR records for the first six months of this year show that Serbia's citizens are in 2nd place, right after Iraqis, when it comes to the number of asylum applications in the EU countries. Serbia's citizens have filed the largest number of asylum applications in Germany, Austria, France and Sweden. It is believed that most of them originate from Kosovo, but there are no accurate statistics on this. They say in the Ministry of Diaspora that they don't have accurate statistics on our citizens seeking asylum abroad. "Each our citizen abroad is part of the diaspora and we don't divide them in any way, including their nationality. For such attitude, we have received commendations from the OSCE", says Vanka Dubovac Pavlovic of the Ministry of Diaspora. They say at the "484" NGO that "deals with encouraging forced migrants (refugees, IDPs, asylum seekers) to take active part in the realization of their rights" that they have no records on the persons seeking asylum in the EU countries either. Vladimir Petronijevic of the "484" says that according to some analyses, it turns out that most asylum seekers are "people from Kosovo" although the ethnic structure of the asylum seekers is never published. "The UNHCR's position is that ethnic Albanians originating from Kosovo can only be returned to the settlements with majority Albanian population, whereas Kosovo is considered unsafe environment for the return of Serbs and Roma. Therefore many asylum seekers claim they are from Kosovo in order to avoid getting returned. According to the 2004 records, of the 11.131 participants of the voluntary return program organized by the International Organization for Migrations between 2000 and 2004, 63,37% declared as Roma, 19,02% declared as Bosniak Muslims and 10,93% declared as Serbs", Petronijevic says. "People who return from the countries where they were denied asylum and have no one to receive them here, come to us sometimes. Then we notify the Readmission Office, which is part of the Service for Human and Minority Rights. It is a project financed by OSCE; our state hasn't been providing significant funds for it. No one has asked us yet to advise them on the best ways to seek asylum in another country, and we wouldn't do it anyway because one of our goals is to protect the institution of asylum from abuse. The asylum policy has the most human component of all the segments of migrations management. A form of abuse would be if an economic migrant used the institution of political asylum in order to solve his social problems. We want the opposite, to show that economic reasons are not good enough for obtaining political asylum", Petronijevic says. "We are the only country in south-east Europe without an internal regulation to establish the procedure of defining refugee status, and the Law on refugees from 1992 is only applied to refugees from former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is Serbia's obligation to have asylum laws, asylum infrastructure, asylum center sufficient to provide shelter for asylum seekers. It is our international obligation. Not only to move those people to third countries, but to provide protection for them here in Serbia. Our organization is trying to initiate the adoption of asylum laws in accordance with the international standards. Serbia is the country which is falling behind the most in this segment, and no one is really dealing with it, even though it is one of the requirements for EU membership", Petronijevic says. "Glas javnosti", 22. 9. 2006. - GORANI: The Gorani are a small ethnic community of Slavic origin and Muslim religion, whose native land is the municipality of Gora and the surrounding villages, in the very south of Kosovo. Their first language is Serbian and their native language is Gorani. Historically, they are connected to Serbs and Serbia. Dr Harun Hasani, president of the Gorani National Community, asked if the members of the Gorani community have been leaving Kosovo since 1999, says, "The 1991 census registers 17.000 Goranis in 19 settlements in Kosovo. And now, according to OSCE records, less than 8.000 Goranis are living in Kosovo. More Goranis got killed or went missing in the armed conflict in Kosovo in 1999, than in First and Second World Wars. After the arrival of KFOR, they became second-rate citizens, and due to the general lack of safety, they continue to migrate out of Kosovo. The ethnic structure has changed drastically. 90% of the population of Dragas was Gorani, and now they only make up 10% and the rest are Albanians. Goranis are being harassed and tortured before the very eyes of the representatives of the international community. Their apartments and houses are taken away from them, and their livestock is completely destroyed or stolen". "Glas javnosti": WHAT IS THE DIRECTION OF THE GORANIS MIGRATIONS? Dr Hasani: "Most of them go to Serbia, and a small percentage go to Macedonia. However, at this moment there are 2.500 Goranis who have moved abroad. Goranis always returned to Gora to preserve their ethnic identity. Now there is no possibility for return. So Goranis form new settlements in Serbia proper - in the parts of Belgrade such as Kotez, Borca, Padinska Skela, etc. They are trying to stay in groups so they could preserve their ethnic identity because they can't go back to their native land any more". "Glas javnosti": HOW DO GORANIS SEE THEIR PLACE IN THE NEW STATUS OF KOSOVO? Dr Hasani: "It is hard to predict the way in which the multiethnic principle will be implemented in Kosovo. The Albanians have shown in the last seven years that they are not capable of respecting other communities. On the other hand, the international forces haven't protected them in any way. The eventual independence of Kosovo would surely complete the migration process of all the non-Albanian communities. It is not easy to predict how the decentralization model would function. In that case, Goranis won't demand the formation of a municipality, but they would only claim back their former municipality status. A major problem would also be the fact that the municipality would be surrounded by Albanians/.../ A period of uncertainty is awaiting Goranis, as well as Serbs, but even if they realize their dream, it won't go too well for the Albanians either I think. They will build a state on unhealthy foundations". "Glas javnosti", 22. 9. 2006. - VUKOVAR: Two nights ago, anti-Serb graffiti were painted on the building of the First Secondary School in Vukovar. The local Police Department in its report qualifies the graffiti as "unbecoming". The graffiti read "Don't send Serbs to our schools", "Send them to Serbia", "Kill the Serbs", three letters "U" etc, TANJUG news agency reports. "Glas javnosti", 22. 9. 2006. - NOVI PAZAR: 143 internally displaced Roma from Kosovo are living in very difficult conditions, in the very center of Novi Pazar, on the bank of the Raska river. They survive, as they say, by collecting waste metals, cardboard, plastic and by begging. Their settlement consists of improvised shelters made from cardboard, nylon and wooden planks. While older women look after the children and prepare lunch from the leftovers received as a handout somewhere in the town or found next to a garbage container, younger women beg in the streets. "Our women are reluctant to beg. But when there is no other option... We collect waste metals and cardboard. You have to survive. We try to get by the best way we can. We have received aid in food and also blankets and mattresses from the Red Cross several times", Adem Sadiki says. For a few years now, there has been lots of talking about determining a location to set up a Roma settlement but nothing has been done yet. There have been no concrete steps forward. The Red Cross made an effort in May 2005 and helped by the Department for Urbanism and Construction, made a detailed project for the settlement. However, Ljiljana Kostic of the Red Cross in Novi Pazar, the realization of the project would take around 15.000 euros. Last summer UNHCR brought tents for all the 17 families and a location to set up the tents should have been determined. "There are three solutions. One of the locations is near the garbage dump where their former settlement was located. The Forest Department offered it to us", Kostic says. Semiha Kacar, president of the Sandzak Committee for the Protection of Human Rights and Liberties, stresses that the Roma displaced from Kosovo are the most vulnerable and they are living on the verge of existence. "There has been lots of talking about them, many campaigns have been initiated, but not much has actually changed in their lives. The Sandzak Committee has registered violations of the human rights of this ethnic community. Many of them, for example, are not even enrolled in the birth registry, in the database of the citizens of this country, nor were they registered during the census. This is a particularly big problem because without these documents, they cannot exercise their right to public assistance allowance, child allowance, the children can't go to school. The low level of social and health protection, the right to employment, education, could be a topic of a very long and well-argumented speech", Kacar says. Since they arrived in Novi Pazar until the beginning of this year, the Roma displaced from Kosovo lived in the old garbage dump in Batnjik. They left the settlement encouraged by a false story of the houses being built in Subotica. So the 22 families with more than 140 members moved there, but then 17 of the families returned to Novi Pazar in May. They set up a new settlement in the town center. "Glas javnosti", 22. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: According to a research conducted by the "Eko Stud" NGO, 15 tons of depleted uranium were dumped on seven locations in Serbia during the NATO bombing, and as for the 107 locations in Kosovo, only those who dropped the bombs know the quantity of radioactive ammunition that was used. Due to the NATO bombing, Serbs are going to live shorter and shorter. Depleted uranium has entered the food chain, the underground and surface waters. "Glas javnosti", 23. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: Although poverty is hard to measure, all indicators show that more than 800.000 Serbia's citizens live below poverty line and those living just above the poverty line are twice as many. According to the records and methodology of the World Bank, the number of the most destitute citizens in Serbia has dropped from 9,8% in 2003 to 9,1% in 2006. According to the methodology of the Statistics Institute of the Republic of Serbia, last year a family of three needed 11.566 dinars a month just for the basic necessities; 15,36% of the citizens were below this minimum and as many as 25% lived in a household of three members on less than 13.000 dinars a month. "Regional poverty is also present in Serbia, so while in Belgrade a significant decrease in poverty is recorded and only 2% of its population is destitute, as many as 25% of the population of south-east Serbia is destitute. The official figure of 910.000 unemployed persons is not realistic because those working in the "gray" zone or getting temporary jobs from time to time also hide in this figure", says Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic, president of the Parliament's Commission on poverty reduction. "Glas javnosti", 25. 9. 2006. - OPOVO: Around 100 Romas live in Third New Settlement in Opovo near Pancevo (one of Belgrade's municipalities). Due to large rainfall, high water level of the nearby Tamis river and the emersion of underground waters, around 28 homes mostly built from mud bricks or from gravel blocks, practically started to fall down on their inhabitants. The provincial authorities of Vojvodina visited the settlement last week and signed a contract on the "Improvement of the conditions in the Roma settlement in Opovo". It was decided to engage professional craftsmen, buy materials and start building new housing units and repair some of the existing homes, and also include the inhabitants of the settlement to help. The Roma say that the mud in the settlement is the main reason why the children don't go to school. "We have complained, demanded to put asphalt in the settlement so the children wouldn't go dirty to school and be laughed by other children. We spent 2-3 years asking for an asphalt road and a month ago they only put some gravel on the road so they can say they have done something", says one of the Roma, Djurdjevka Jovanovic. The provincial secretaries, coordinators of the project and the president of Opovo Municipality have announced that they will decide this week when the renovation of the settlement will start. "I hope we won't be waiting a hundred years like we were waiting for the road. My child won't die if it doesn't go to school, but one must have a place to live", said one of the inhabitants of Third New Settlement. "Glas javnosti", 26. 9. 2006. - NOVI SAD: Vojvodina's Regional Committee for Helping Refugees invited the refugees in the Province yesterday to break up all contacts with the Commission for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia and not to provide any information on the properties they have received thanks to foreign donations. The Committee has invited its members to boycott the Commission for Refugees until the problematic regulations are removed from the proposed law on refugees, under which they will be offered to buy the apartments they have received thanks to foreign donations and then the money would be invested into housing for other refugees. "Danas", 21. 9. 2006. - GORNJI MILANOVAC: Like the previous three years, this year the municipality of Gornji Milanovac provided school books for a total of 22 Roma students (19 schoolchildren and 3 high school students) from socially vulnerable families. The initiator of the project is the Roma Association of Gornji Milanovac. "In the last couple of years, it has been evident that Roma children have been more interested and engaged in the education process. They are getting better and better grades in elementary school and also more and more children decide to continue their education and go to secondary school. In this way the local Roma are showing that they are aware of the fact that lack of education not only leads to further social marginalization of our ethnic community, but it is also a direct threat to our survival as an ethnic community", says Zoran Ristic, president of the Roma Association of Gornji Milanovac. This year's donation, provided by the municipality of Gornji Milanovac and the local Center for Social Work, is worth 73.000 dinars. "Danas", 22. 9. 2006. - NIS: Yesterday the doctors of the Institute for Lung Diseases in Nis started systematic examinations of the Roma children in Nis as part of the tuberculosis control in Serbia. The examinations are performed in the municipality of Crveni Krst where Nis's largest Roma settlement is located. The Red Cross will also distribute food packages to the Roma children. The examinations will include children aged up to 14 because the are the most vulnerable to tuberculosis. "Danas", 22. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: At yesterday's round table organized by the Parliament's Commission on Work, Veterans and Social Issues in cooperation with the UNDP, the Minister of work, employment and social policy Slobodan Lalovic, says that of the 911.736 unemployed persons, 38% have no professional qualifications and their chances for getting a job are minimal. According to the National Employment Service, the official unemployment rat in July was 27,8% and the average age of the unemployed is 38,4; 192.000 are aged over 50 and 54% are women. In June, Serbia had a little more than 2 million employed persons. The representatives of the MInistry of Work, Employment and Social Policy announced that an Action Plan for the Employment of Roma is ready and there is also a plan to prepare an action plan for the employment of women and disabled persons. "Danas", 27. 9. 2006. - ZAGREB: The OSCE Mission to Croatia has published a list of donors of 303.500 euros for legal defense of the Croatian army general Ante Gotovina standing trial in the Hague Tribunal. The donors are some of the municipalities and towns in Croatia, but also some of the state-owned companies, such as the "Kroacija Insurance" agency which has donated 35.000 euros, TANJUG reports. "Glas javnosti", 30. 9. 2006. - SARAJEVO: A body of a decapitated male, his hands tied with a wire behind his back, was exhumed yesterday in the village of Macesi in Cerska in Milici Municipality at the orders of the County Prosecution Office of Istocno Sarajevo, said Slobodan Skrba, member of the Office for Search for Missing and Captured Persons of Republika Srpska. "It is a Serb who was a detainee of a camp which, according to Bosniak witnesses, was formed and commanded by Naser Oric who was sentenced by the Hague Tribunal to two years imprisonment for war crimes committed during the war in the area of Srebrenica", Skrba said and added that the victim was executed in a gully next to the camp and that some of the detainees were deported in the direction of Srebrenica and then executed. "Glas javnosti", 30. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: It is estimated that every 100th inhabitant of Serbia (around 100.000 people) is infected with hepatitis C. "Glas javnosti", 29. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: Amnesty International has documented continuous human rights violations against some of the ethnic minorities in Kosovo and the local authorities failing to protect them, said Maureen Greenwood Buskin, Amnesty International representative. "First of all, there is the violence that happened in March 2004 and also the fact that none of the perpetrators have answered yet", said Greenwood Buskin for the Voice of America. "Glas javnosti", 28. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner for information of public importance, has published the "Guide through the Law on free access to information" in Roma language, in cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Serbia. "Generally speaking, the Roma community lives in difficult, unsatisfactory conditions, and it has to be changed. It is an obligation of all the state authorities. The 'Guide through the Law on free access to information of public importance' in Roma language is a humble contribution that the Commissioner for information of public importance is able to provide in the present circumstances", says Sabic in a statement for the press. "Glas javnosti", 28. 9. 2006. - BELGRADE: Women make up more than half the refugee and IDP population in Serbia. Most of them are unemployed, living as subtenants, they have medical problems, they are particularly vulnerable to violence, shows the "Study on the Most Vulnerable Population" which was presented yesterday. The author of the Study is the "Group 484" NGO and the Study is aimed to develop the awareness of sexes in the organizations and institutions responsible for the realization of the rights of forced migrants. It says in the Study that it is necessary to facilitate access for refugee and IDP women to health care, employment, education and the decision-making mechanisms. It was said at yesterday's presentation of the Study that the obstacle to the realization of the rights of this population is the lack of anti-discrimination laws and laws on the equality of sexes. "In the realization of their rights, refugee and IDP women expect support from the state and its institutions, from local and international NGOs, municipal and local authorities", says the Study. The research involved around 100 refugee and IDP women, and also experts from Kraljevo, Krusevac, Nis, Pozarevac and Stara Pazova. "Danas", 28. 9. 2006. Back to the english site Tillbaka till hemsidan