Despite these and numerous reports to the contrary, many KFOR personnel deny that violence against the Roma exists. This point will be discussed more fully in the analysis section of this report.

Human Rights Watch reports that inability or unwillingness to create a more secure environment for Kosovo’s non-Albanian population extends to international civilian agencies such as the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK):

In fact, according to VOR's research of the Romani population in Kosovo, in three quarters of the villages surveyed Roma cited lack of security, ongoing threats and/or attacks as an obstacle to stability and a reason why most of the Romani population that have fled have not returned.

Both Polansky’s field reports from his visit to Kosovo in the Summer of 2001 and reports by other human rights groups provide evidence that the Roma are experiencing a process of mass ethnic cleansing and what some have characterized as genocide at the hands of ethnic Albanian extremists. A small but representative list of examples from Polansky’s field reports can be found below in the data analysis section.

We might expect humanitarian NGOs to be more conscious of and work against anti-Roma prejudice and discrimination. Unfortunately, we find that too many international aid groups operating in Kosovo unwittingly internalize negative attitudes regarding Roma and adopt discriminatory practices against them. As a result, humanitarian aid and support has disproportionately favored the Kosovar Albanians, while Roma have been ignored.

It must also be pointed out, however, that centuries of extreme discrimination have led the Roma to erect walls of self-protection vis-à-vis the Gadje (non-Roma, outsider). Not surprisingly, this makes it difficult for humanitarian aid groups to gain the trust of Roma and to access their communities and disperse aid.

Polansky’s field reports include many examples of where and to what extent there is a critical lack of humanitarian aid to the Roma.

June 21, 2001

Food aid to the Roma of Kamenica had ceased almost entirely by January 2001. About 50% of the Roma were receiving money instead of food, but only 65 DM a month which wasn’t enough for one person to live on, let alone a family. The main aid agencies had their headquarters in Gjilani: IRC, ARC, CARE, and UNHCR. All initially came to Kamenica on a regular basis, but now provide practically no aid.

June 21, 2001

Prior to the NATO-US war, 6,000 Roma lived in Gjilani. Only 350 Roma remain today. The situation for these Roma is extremely urgent as all international aid agencies ceased distributing aid in March 2001. One KFOR soldier admitted that…since the NGOs and UNHCR were cutting back aid to the Roma it was hard to see how they were going to survive.