Sir, - Permit me to join Valerie Hughes and Peter Walsh (August 2nd) in congratulating the Irish Government on its treatment and care of the Kosovar refugees. I trust they will join me in urging the Irish Government to use its influence in the EU and UN to ensure that all Kosovar refugees are enabled to return to their homes in peace and security. For "Kosovar" is an inclusive term, applicable to all those whose roots lie in the Serbian province of Kosova and Metohija.
Since the KFOR occupation over a year ago, and the return of Kosovar Albanian refugees, some 200,000 of non-Albanian Kosovars - Serbs, Montenegrins, Roma, Turks and others - have fled or have been expelled by the continued violence of Albanian extremists. Although many of their homes have been destroyed, these Kosovars are not looking for handouts. All they require is that KFOR, according to their UN mandate, return their property to them, and provide them with sufficient security to resume their lives on their land. What re-building is required, they will do with their own hands.
Incidentally, you report (August 3rd) on an Albanian family returning to Kosova with an Irish Government grant of £18,000. Your readers may be interested to know that such a sum in Serbia would buy either a substantial farm, complete with a family home, outbuildings and tools, or a nice family home in a medium-sized provincial town, with sufficient left over to start a small business. - Yours, etc.,
Zivko Jaksic, Serbian Information Bureau, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16.