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During the harsh winter months, when the electricity supply was extremely erratic, there were recurrent reports of minority populations being singled out for a disproportionate number of blackouts when there was a need for supply to be rationed. Several of these complaints were traced back to deliberate sabotage of supply lines in certain locations, as opposed to a centrally organised policy of limiting minority access to available electricity. Whatever the causes, minority populations often bore the brunt of electricity shortages. In addition, many Roma, Ashkaelia (sic), and Egyptian settlements suffer from poor utility services because in the past, investments in the maintenance of necessary infrastructure were often not forthcoming for these communities.8
The billing system implemented by Kosovo’s primary utility company (KEK) exacerbates the problem of electricity for the Roma. The bills are produced either in Albanian and English or Serbian and English, and are issued according to the dominant ethnic group of a particular community.
This logic conflicts with an overall policy of fostering the simultaneous use of official languages. Moreover it gives rise to the possibility of a substantial number of customers receiving bills in a language they are unable to understand, as KEK does not appear to have any internal system to ensure that the appropriate language bill is delivered to each household. In practice it would appear that a substantial number of bills have not been delivered at all, and where bills have been delivered there have been complaints from minority communities that they have been billed above their actual electricity usage…Apart from the question of language and delivery of bills, an additional problem came to light in that the payment system obliges customers to pay in person at their local KEK office. With KEK offices being exclusively located in majority Albanian areas, the eternal question of freedom of movement has become an obstacle to minority populations being able to pay their bills. In addition, payments made in Yugoslav Dinars are subject to a 10% surcharge (in accordance with Regulation 1999/4 and subsequent administrative directions), which raises questions of fairness for communities who may not have access to other currencies.9
Another major problem confronting Roma dating before the 1999 war, is that Romani communities and Roma in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps are often situated near garbage dumps and landfills. In the aftermath of the bombing, there is little in the way of municipal services to pick up and remove the garbage. Growing numbers of Roma are trawling through the waste, looking for any item they could possibly sell or use. The lack of access to medical care compounds the attendant ill effects of living in close proximity to garbage.
Lack of Access to Education
Access to education is an acute problem, as many Roma fear sending their children to Albanian run schools for security reasons. Examples cited in the OSCE/UNHCR report illustrate the problem:
At the opening of a school for Albanian and Ashkaelia [sic] (an ethnic subgroup of the Roma) pupils in Mali Alas/Hallac i Vogel, Lipljan/Lipjan Municipality, in February [2000], a crowd of Albanians chased away the Ashkaelia [sic] leader and pupils. A UNICEF initiative to provide catch-up classes to Ashkaelia [sic] pupils in Kosovo Polje/Fushe Kosove was set back when one of the tents intended for the classes was burned down. . . .
In Djakovica/Gjakove Town, for instance very few Roma and Egyptian children attend secondary school, at least in part due to fear of harassment by Albanian students. For Roma, the question of choice of language in which to have their children educated puts them in the difficult position of having to choose between Albanian and Serbo-Croatian, which can be subsequently interpreted as a sign of political loyalty with serious consequences.10
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8 Ibid
9 Ibid
10 Ibid
