Refugees waiting to return to Kosovo

Results of a survey conducted by IOM over the past weekend, indicate that 91% of the refugees presently staying in Brazde and Stankovec 2 camps do not intend to return immediately to Kosovo. Instead they will wait for a little longer before returning. Out of the 374 refugees interviewed, only 9% stated that they would return to Kosovo immediately.

The main reasons cited for not returning to Kosovo immediately were:

1. No transport home (43%)
2. Wish to go to a third country (31%)
3. Security concerns (24%)
4. Ethnic problems (2%)

There was little statistical difference between men and women. There also seemed to be little variation due to age on whether to return immediately or wait.

The large number of people wishing to put off return in order to have a chance to go to a third country is most probably due to the fact that refugees still see the Humanitarian Evacuation Program as one available option.

When questioned on how long they felt they could wait for organized transportation before considering other options, 63% said they could wait less than one week while 26% stated they were willing to wait for 2-6 months or even longer.

Of those waiting to return, nearly 70% said they would wait to return until free transportation is provided for them by organizations. On the other hand, just over 30% said they planned finding their own transportation home. However, it is interesting to note that over 80% of those wishing to leave immediately are also waiting for free transportation from the organizations.

As to the location of eventual return, 60% said they wish to return directly to their own town or village while 38% said they wished to go somewhere else within Kosovo. Only 2% indicated that would try to move on to third countries on their own without help from the organizations.

A large majority of refugees from Pristina, Lipljan, Gnjilane, and Ferizaj indicated they would return back to these regions. The majority of those from Dragashi, Fushe Kosove, Gjakove, Gllogoc, Istog, and Obiliq stated that they wished to return to other regions.

Eighty-five percent of those surveyed said the whole family planned to return to Kosovo at the same time while 15% stated that the head of the family or other male family members will go first to assess the situation.

NB:
The results are based on a survey of 374 randomly selected refugees from the population in the Brazde and Stankovec 2 refugee camps. The refugees were asked basic questions on their return intentions. It is not known to which extent the population surveyed is representative of all Kosovar Albanian refugees currently living in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Refugees also live in other camps not covered by the survey as well as with families outside camps.

International Organization for Migration (IOM)
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Tel: +41-22-7179111 * Fax: 41-22-7986150 * Email: info@iom.int * Internet: http://www.iom.int/