H . TOPIC . Security Sector Reform & Durable Solutions for Displaced People in Kosovo ( 2476 )
Observation .
Security Sector Reform ( SSR ) under the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo ( UNMIK ) contributed to durable solutions for displaced people in Kosovo by increasing trust / legitimacy in police in the security sector . According to a study on internal displacement by the Brookings Institute , a decade and a half after violent conflict forced hundreds of thousands of people to flee from Kosovo in 1999 , most displaced have returned , thanks in part to these measures .
Discussion .
War broke out in Kosovo in the late 1990s , after President Milosevic and Serbians began to repress Kosovo Albanians , destroying property and driving hundreds of thousands of people from their homes . To prevent further atrocities , the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ) intervened , bombing Serbia until it withdrew forces from Kosovo in June 1999 . United Nations Security Council Resolution ( UNSCR ) 1244 ( 1999 ) then put Kosovo under the international administration of UNMIK to promote conditions for self-government , with NATO ’ s Kosovar Force ( KFOR ) to provide security . After failed negotiations , Kosovo unilaterally declared independence in 2008 , inviting the European Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo ( EULEX Kosovo ) to stay alongside UNMIK , with a mandate ( currently extended until 14 June 2018 ) to monitor , mentor , and advise rule of law institutions such as the Kosovo police . By 2013 , Serbia and Kosovo had begun the process of normalizing relations . There are still occasional clashes , but overall the security situation has improved .
Several waves of internally displaced persons ( IDPs ) and refugees followed the initial eruption of conflict in Kosovo . Between March-June 1999 , 590,000 Kosovo Albanian IDPs and 863,000 Kosovo Albanian refugees fled from violence by Serbian troops and Milosevic ’ s security forces . “ Overall , during the conflict an estimated 90 percent of Kosovo Albanians [ 1.9 million people ] were forced to leave their homes , some of which were damaged or destroyed , others of which were occupied by Kosovo Serb families , but many were simply left vacant , “ ( Derks-Normandin , p . 3 ; See " Event " below ). By June 2000 , one year after Serbia ’ s withdrawal following NATO ’ s international intervention , the majority of those displaced had returned and the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees ( UNHCR ) had shut down its operations as part of UNMIK . At that point , however , a new wave of displacement emerged , this time composed of 245,000 Kosovo Serbs and Roma , Egyptians , and Ashkali ( RAE ) fleeing threats of reprisals from Kosovo Albanians . Riots in March 2004 caused another 4,200 Kosovo Serbs and RAE to become displaced , also slowing down the return rate of those displaced in the reprisals four years earlier . By 2014 , a decade and a
Table of Contents | Quick Look | Contact PKSOI Page 43 of 58