by Mariela TRAJKOVSKA
As we walked, shards of glass burst under our feet. Everywhere around us we could see pieces of furniture, which had been destroyed and tossed around on both floors of the house. Everything had been destroyed to the extent that it was unusable. Beds had been tossed over, mattresses ripped open, washing machine, cooker, and the wood stove totally destroyed. Cupboards and closets had been smashed into pieces, and bed linen and clothing could be seen lying everywhere around us. The Dimitrievic brothers immediately informed the Police and the representatives of the OSCE about the incident.
"The house is unlivable now. They destroyed everything. I am a stone worker and used to make grave stones. They destroyed my workshop. Marble blocks and grave stones were broken to bits. The damage is huge, but it is good that my family is alive and unharmed," Cedomir says.
Last week the Dimitrievic brothers started fixing up their homes, so that they could return with their families to the village of Opae. They have been living for several months already in a rented apartment in Kumanovo. Since the start of the implementation of the pilot project for the return of security forces to the crisis regions, they have been coming to the village daily and working on their houses.
"After this, there is no return to the village. Where are we to return? Where can we live? I do not know who did this. I asked neighbors, but apparently no one has seen or heard anything. We are not safe anymore in the village in which we were born and in which my family has been living for more than a century," says Cedomir.
Head of the local commune Opae, Shaqiri Rexhepi, told us that he was not aware that Cedomir's house was destroyed on the same day as his brother Aleksandar's house.
"This must have happened two days ago. I don't know, I wasn't in the village for two days. This is the first time I saw that this house was also demolished. I will inform the police," Rexhepi says, adding that he had no idea who demolished the houses. According to Rexhepi, the road through Opae is very busy, and anyone can enter the village and demolish houses.
"Ethnic Macedonian residents of the village should return and guard their property and houses. Three ethnic Macedonian families have returned to the village and they are safe," says Rexhepi.
The Bojkovic family also spent yesterday in the village, and only grandfather Veljko and his wife sleep in the house. Younger members of the family return to Kumanovo every afternoon with the police patrol since at night they don't feel safe in the village.
Opae has 360 houses with about 400 families. Forty houses with 211 residents belong to ethnic Macedonians, while the rest are ethnic Albanian households with about 1,900 residents. Since October 22, when the security forces returned to the village, 30 houses owned by ethnic Macedonians have been damaged and looted in the village. Their owners visit the village, which still hasn't been connected to the electric grid, during daylight hours. The head of the local commune Opae says that it is expected that distribution of construction material will start today. This weekend, the International Red Cross and the UNHCR distributed food to the residents of Opae.