Rapajic: The process of returning displaced Serbs no longer exists; Different rules apply for Albanians

The Program Director of the NGO Center for Advocacy of Democratic Culture from North Mitrovica, Aleksandar Rapajic, assesses that the process of returning displaced persons to Kosovo practically no longer exists.

"Unfortunately, the process of returning to Kosovo has practically not existed for a long time. People who left Kosovo and now mostly live in central Serbia or further away have started new lives there, and their children are growing up there. They are getting educated and working there... I think that the passage of time has made the return no longer significant," says Rapajic in an interview with Kosovo Online.

He adds that the key problem initially was the overly complicated procedure, which "killed the desire" of people to return to their homes.

"We had a problem in Kosovo where the return process was so complicated that it killed any desire of the people who wanted to return. The procedures were long, required a lot of documentation, and the receiving community had to accept the returning people. This was a process that took a long time and practically discouraged people from doing it," emphasizes Rapajic.

He adds that the biggest absurdity is that today the situation in Kosovo, especially in the north, is completely different.

"We now have a different situation in the north of Kosovo, where houses are being rebuilt for Albanian returnees who are coming back to the north of Kosovo. Interestingly, the same standards that applied to Serbs are not applied now. While the return of Serbs went through the Ministry for Return and Communities, the return of Albanians now goes through the Ministry of Local Government, with a much faster and more efficient system, where they complete everything in a very short time, something that took years for Serbs to achieve," emphasizes Rapajic.