BPT Summer Newsletter 99

BPT visits NGOs in Macedonia and Hungary

Trip to Macedonia
Round Table in Banja Luka: Cross border dialog among refugees
Volunteer and Personnel News

There were two events during our trip which symbolized for us the spirit and energy of the Kosovar Albanian people that we met. We were very happy to find that Marie, the co-ordinator for Mother Theresa in Prishtina, had arrived safely in Skopje. She told us the story of her family's unpleasant escape from Kosov@, which happened on the Serbian Good Friday. She said that she regretted not having taken her children out of Kosov@ earlier. They were forced to witness such terrible things in Prishtina, including their own forced expulsion from their home in Xafa.

But despite these memories and losses, Marte still carried on with her work. She said that was how she managed to survive. We found her in her new office, which was in the attic of an import-export bakery building. There, in a huge attic loft, she sat at an old desk with two telephones and a pad and pencil in front of her. The phone kept on ringing and she kept on taking requests for humanitarian assistance. A volunteer for Mother Theresa sat across the desk from her at a second hand Cyrillic typewriter, banging out the forms needed to get permission from the Macedonian government for the delivery of food, clothing and medical supplies that were going to the refugees who were living with host families in Macedonia. There were close to 200,000 refugees living outside the camps and therefore not under the purview of the international aid organizations. Marte with her two telephones, a couple of office volunteers, and a battered typewriter was able to deliver over 700 tons of supplies to these families through the incredible network of Mother Theresa in Macedonia. She is an inspiration to us of courage, determination and great organizational skills. We laughed with her about how different her organization was from the bureaucratic confusion of the UNHCR.

The other person that we found to be equally as inspiring was an activist, Beskim. Beskim had worked with the International Federation of the Red Cross in Prishtina. He also co-operated with he Serbian Red Cross in doing relief work for the internally displaced persons (IDP's) in Kosov@ during the summer and fall of 1998. When NATO started their military invasion, the Serb police and paramilitaries intensified the violence towards the Kosovar Albanian citizens in Prishtina, where Beskim was living. One day he was meeting a friend, who was bringing him a bottle of brandy wrapped in a package. They were stopped by the police on one of the main squares in front of the post office. The police thought it was a bomb and challenged them about the contents of the package. As Beskim's friend reached out to show the police the contents of the package and they opened fire. Beskim's friend was killed in front of his eyes and he himself was left for dead.

In spite of this, Beskim told us he wants his children to grow up free from the fear and hatred of Serbs that is poisoning the minds of the Kosovar Albanian children. It is for this reason that he is trying to start a children's camp in Macedonia, near the resort area of Ohrid. He has made plans to transport some 450 children to hotels in this region. He wants to give the children, between the ages of eight and eleven, some space to simply be themselves, to heal themselves, and most of all to be free from the propaganda that he thinks will destroy their chances of living with Serbs in the future.

After Macedonia we traveled to Budapest to meet up with Serbian activists and contacts from Yugoslavia. Most of the people crossing over into Hungary were women and children. (Males older than 14 years were not allowed out of the country.) Several young women we talked to had just arrived from Belgrade. We heard from them about the "fear counseling" that the Autonomous Women's Center is doing every night. They also reported about Group 484, Zena na Delu, and the Zenski Centar. We learned that the Center for Children's Rights has set up an office in Budapest in conjunction with Save the Children. Two international organizations, American Friends Service Committee and Norwegian Peoples Aid, have provided office space to serve as a contact point and resource center for people from Yugoslavia.

We were able to relay information to people about the situation we found in Macedonia. We also talked about the different groups and activists we had reconnected with and what they were up to. According to information we received in Budapest, there are approximately 100,000 Yugoslavian refugees in Hungary with 3,000 in camps close to the border. The majority of the people who crossed into Hungary do so on a tourist basis and arrange their own accommodation. Therefore these figures are difficult to verify". The camps are occupied mainly by either the elderly or the poor. Conscientious Objector's also form a significant part of the camps' population. All people who enter illegally into Hungary, a lot of them CO's, are sent to the camps.

A project that has been initiated by one of our contacts is addressing the needs of Serbian CO's in Hungary. It is called the "Safehouse Project". Since the project is still in its early phases the scope of the project has not yet been fully defined. The Safehouse Project is already being supported by the German based group, Connections. They are interested in setting up similar support networks in other European countries. If you are interested in supporting them, please contact us.

While in Budapest, we were also able to meet with several Hungarian NGO's as well. One of them, a leading environmental organization, saw its role changed by the war and was now busy spreading reliable information about the environmental implication of the bombing. The NGO's oriented to peace issues were mainly campaigning against Hungary's involvement in NATO. They organized demonstrations, lobbies, and press releases against the bombing of Yugoslavia.

We found much to think about and have many recommendations for the future plans of BPT. Our medium-term plan is to open a temporary office in Skopje. Using that as a base, we will also travel to Albania and Hungary. We will continue to connect with Albanians and Serbs and be open for opportunities to build trust and confidence, looking for possibilities for discussion and dialogue between the different communities.

With the recent news of the end of bombing and the quick entry of peacekeeping troops into Kosov@, it may be possible for BPT to return to Prishtina before the summer is over. We are convinced from our experience in the field, that there is much BPT can contribute to the rebuilding of Yugoslavia. Our work will, as always, be at the grass roots and our approach will be low key. We continue to be committed to supporting those initiatives that will strengthen the civil society and offer viable alternatives to violence. As one of our friends from Prishtina said, "Now more than ever, people must realize that we have to find better ways to solve conflicts."

Written by Lyn Back, Alan Jones, and Erik Torch

Round Table in Banja Luka: Cross border dialog among refugees
In late March of this year, Otvorene Oci (the Croatian branch of the Balkan Peace Team) took eight representatives of local NGOs in the Knin region in Croatia to Banja Luka in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In collaboration witn Pax Christi in Banja Luka, Otvorene Oci facilitated two events designed to both:

1. develop links of co-operation between local NGOs in Knin and Banja Luka, and
2. provide accurate and current information about return to Croatian Serb refugees currently living in Banja Luka.

The second event was a public forum for Croatian refugees at which the Knin representatives provided up-to-date information on issues such as security, property and pension rights, availability of humanitarian and legal assistance, reconstruction and social entitlements in Croatia. They also answered questions on specific individual cases and were able to provide hope for the possibility of Croatian refugees returning to their homes in the former Krajina.

This hope, both for the refugees and the local organisations working on their behalf, was one of the most important outcomes of the two events. It helped to dispel the belief that positive results cannot be achieved from Republika Srbska and gave new confidence to the under-resourced and comparatively young NGO sector in Banja Luka.

The events were the result of six months preparation by Otvorene Oci and Pax Christi and provided what will hopefully be the first step in a co-operative process of strengthening links between areas of potential multi-way return. They also provided an opportunity for the Knin representatives to investigate possibilities for return to Banja Luka by Bosnian Croat refugees currently occupying houses in Knin.

The events took on an added meaning as they occurred during the first three days of the NATO bombing campaign. News of the bombings served to remind all participants that the effects of conflict in the areas of the former Yugoslavia will be felt by displaced populations for some time to come.

Volunteer and Personnel News
Since the last newsletter Paul Aiken (Australia) and Angelica Anastaclo (Phillippines/USA) and Michael Buttler(USA) left the Otvorene Oci Team in Split. Many thanks to Paul and Angelica and Michael for their good work. Mary Barnes (N.lreland) is the new volunteer in Split.

The FRY Team, now based in Macedonia, is Alan Jones (Wales), Erik Torch (USA) and Lyn Back (US) who will be finishing her year on the team in July. Many thanks to Lyn for her good work. In August Robert Sautter (USA) will join the FRY Team in Macedonia.