Post by Pejoni on Dec 26, 2007 9:32:38 GMT -5
Serbian National Seeks Asylum in Kosovo
26 December 2007 Pristina _ A Serbian national from northern Serbia is seeking asylum in Kosovo, police officials said on Tuesday.
The Kosovo Police Service's (KPS) Office for Migration told local television on Tuesday, they received a middle-aged Serb who said he had fled his hometown in Serbia's northern Vojvodina province.
'The duty of the KPS is to receive him as an asylum-seeker and provide him with shelter and that is what we did', Veton Elshani, the KPS Spokesperson told Balkan Insight.
KPS say the Serbian citizen was sent to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, ADRA, which will provide him with temporary accommodation until his status is solved.
The asylum-seeker, who preferred not to reveal his identity, told local television channel KTV on Tuesday that he 'was forced' to leave Vojvodina, because he felt intimidated by his politically radical neighbours who were endangering his life.
He also told the TV station that he had written to the Serbian Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica but never received a reply. He said he was taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The man's decision to seek refuge in Pristina is likely to raise legal questions over whether Kosovo can offer asylum since its final status is still unresolved.
However, Elshani said the KPS had contacted the office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Pristina, who reportedly assumed the man can reside in Kosovo without asylum status, since UN Security Council resolution 1244 allows for such a stay.
Kosovo is officially a Serbian province which has been governed by a UN administration since 1999 under UN Security Council resolution 1244.
Two years of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina over the province's future status have ended with no agreement and Kosovo is likely to declare independence in the coming weeks.
www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/7157/
26 December 2007 Pristina _ A Serbian national from northern Serbia is seeking asylum in Kosovo, police officials said on Tuesday.
The Kosovo Police Service's (KPS) Office for Migration told local television on Tuesday, they received a middle-aged Serb who said he had fled his hometown in Serbia's northern Vojvodina province.
'The duty of the KPS is to receive him as an asylum-seeker and provide him with shelter and that is what we did', Veton Elshani, the KPS Spokesperson told Balkan Insight.
KPS say the Serbian citizen was sent to the Adventist Development and Relief Agency, ADRA, which will provide him with temporary accommodation until his status is solved.
The asylum-seeker, who preferred not to reveal his identity, told local television channel KTV on Tuesday that he 'was forced' to leave Vojvodina, because he felt intimidated by his politically radical neighbours who were endangering his life.
He also told the TV station that he had written to the Serbian Prime Minister, Vojislav Kostunica but never received a reply. He said he was taking his case to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
The man's decision to seek refuge in Pristina is likely to raise legal questions over whether Kosovo can offer asylum since its final status is still unresolved.
However, Elshani said the KPS had contacted the office for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Pristina, who reportedly assumed the man can reside in Kosovo without asylum status, since UN Security Council resolution 1244 allows for such a stay.
Kosovo is officially a Serbian province which has been governed by a UN administration since 1999 under UN Security Council resolution 1244.
Two years of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina over the province's future status have ended with no agreement and Kosovo is likely to declare independence in the coming weeks.
www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/7157/