Simic: Goal of the Law on Foreigners is to endanger over 10,000 Serbs living and working in Kosovo

Vice President of the Serb List Igor Simic stated that the goal of the Law on Foreigners is to endanger over 10,000 Serbs who live and work in Kosovo.

Simic said at a meeting of political and institutional representatives in North Mitrovica that no member of the Serb List has ever discussed the integration of healthcare and education with any international representative or Kosovo official.

“I want to publicly and responsibly tell you that at all Serb List meetings since its founding, no member of the Serb List has ever discussed the integration of healthcare and education with any international or Kosovo official. If anyone claims such discussions took place, we categorically reject it. The goal of such claims is to create divisions among our people, and we know how these divisions end for us,” Simic said.

He added that the Serb List has learned what percentage of people will be affected if the Law on Foreigners starts to be applied.

“Through the organization of the Serb List, we obtained concrete data showing that 80 percent of people will be directly affected by this law, as well as more than 3,000 students studying at our University. Out of 1,180 teachers and collaborators at our University, 550 cannot obtain documents. These are people who lived here but were forcibly expelled and were not allowed to obtain documents,” Simic said.

He emphasized that these figures do not include social beneficiaries, pensioners, people in rural areas, or those who were unable to be present in these areas.

“Priests in the Serbian Orthodox Church will be affected. People have contacted us whose both parents have Kosovo documents, but their child cannot obtain a Kosovo document. Any person with marital status within the Serbian system cannot obtain documents. When trying to get documents under this law, they ask if you have income… All people working in Serbian institutions cannot get these certificates. Out of 7,000 people living in Kosovo and Metohija, 37 percent attempted to get Kosovo documents; all were rejected, and some were ordered to leave Kosovo. The international standard that gives you the right to documents by origin was not applied because 57 percent were denied,” Simic stressed.

He highlighted that they have a responsibility to continue the fight.

“We have been entrusted with the institutions to take care of them because they belong to the Republic of Serbia, not to us. Anyone who works against this and claims to have reliable information is acting against you and your children. We have a responsibility to continue the fight because we are on our own land,” Simic concluded.