HOTEL FOR REFUGEES

by K. Kapisoda

Blic, Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, December 7, 1999

About 11,000 Serbs in Sirinicka Zupa in the Strpce municipality and Brezovica have been living surrounded by Albanians for months. "These people, even if they wanted to, have nowhere to go to, since none of them have any property in Serbia proper," says for Blic Zoran Boskocevic, the director of hotel "Molika" in Brezovica.

According to him, the situation in Zupa is very bad. "It's totally dead," says Boskocevic. "No one can predict when there will be electricity. Sometimes the power is cut for 14 hours, then it's on for an hour or two and then gone again. At one point we were without electricity for 52 days because Albanians had demolished pylons. Phone lines have been cut, there is no radio nor TV signal of any sort, since all repeaters were destroyed during the bombardment. The only contact with the rest of the world goes through ham radio operators, who have a lot of problems because of jamming and threats".

Boskocevic says that they receive food via humanitarian assistance, in convoys which arrive twice of thrice a week. Regardless of such a bad situation, Sirinicka Zupa, which has only 12 villages, has received about 2,000 refugees from Prizren, Urosevac, Stari Kacanik and surrounding villages. They have been accommodated in hotels, private homes and holiday homes. "Humanitarian assistance arrives irregularly and is sufficient only for bare survival. Now we urgently need assistance in clothing and footwear," emphasizes Boskocevic.

As far as the cooperation with UNMiK is concerned, there are only individual contacts. Since the arrival of KFOR, nothing has been normalized. In an attempt to change the situation, UNMiK and OSCE have suggested that the ski season be opened, since the ski resort in Brezovica was the center of economic activity in this region. However, it is not clear whether there will be electricity which is necessary for the functioning of the resort and how many guests would arrive.

"UNMiK and OSCE promised to urge their workers to visit Brezovica and we shall open our facilities for the Catholic Christmas [some Eastern Orthodox churches, including the Serb Orthodox Church, celebrate Christmas based on the Julian calendar, on January 7]. Brezovica ski resort is capable of organizing everything, but it is doubtful that there will be electricity, although we have a promise from the U.N. civilian administration that our municipality will not experience power cuts," says Boskocevic.

Translated in December 1999