26 octobre 2005
Thirteen South Asians seeking asylum in disputed Kosovo: UNHCR
PRISTINA, Serbia-Montenegro, Oct 26 (AFP)
Thirteen people from Bangladesh, India and
Pakistan are seeking asylum in the UN protectorate of Kosovo, the UN
refugee agency said Wednesday.
"Ten people from Bangladesh, two from India and one
from Pakistan arrived on a flight from Istanbul on Monday. They have
sought asylum in Kosovo," said Shpend Halili, a spokesman for the UNHCR in
Kosovo.
"It is an unusual case and a new experience for
Kosovo," which has no system for dealing with such cases, Halili told
AFP.
The United Nations and NATO have run Kosovo since a
conflict between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists was
brought to an end by NATO in June 1999. Legally, the province remains a
part of Serbia.
"If we define them as refugees according to our
mandate, the UN mission (UNMIK) and the government would have to take the
case over because it is their responsibility to look after people who come
to Kosovo seeking sanctuary," said Halili.
UNMIK spokesman Remi Dourlod said that the UNHCR was
"examining the case."
However, Dourlod said that the applications by
another group of six asylum seekers from Asia who had arrived to Kosovo
last week were denied.
"After their applications were examined by the UNHCR,
it was found out that they were economic immigrants and not political
refugees," said Dourlod.
"They are supposed to be sent back to their country
of origin," he added, without giving details on their
nationalities.
On Monday the UN Security Council approved talks on
resolving Kosovo's future status.
Ethnic Albanians, who outnumber Serbs and other
minorities in the province by more than nine to one, are seeking nothing
short of independence from Serbia, which Belgrade firmly
opposes.
© AFP Agence France-Presse
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