Albanians in Macedonia: Amnesty International report 2004





Despite some violent incidents and the appearance of the so-called Albanian National Army an armed ethnic Albanian group purportedly seeking the union with neighbouring Kosovo and Albania of areas in Macedonia inhabited predominantly by ethnic Albanians the security situation remained relatively stable. However, underlying tensions between the Macedonian and Albanian communities at times became apparent in violent inter-ethnic incidents.


In July parliament passed an amnesty law for those who had avoided compulsory military service since 1992. This affected 12,369 people, of whom 3,260 were ethnic Macedonians, 7,730 ethnic Albanians and the remainder from Macedonia's other ethnic groups.


Over 2,500 people displaced by the 2001 fighting were still unable to return to their homes. In May over 600 Roma from Kosovo, including women and children, made an unsuccessful attempt to leave Macedonia where they had temporary asylum to seek asylum in Greece. They had fled to Macedonia, fearing attacks on them by Kosovo Albanians after the 1999 NATO operation over Kosovo. They camped on the border until August, when they were persuaded to leave and were all offered asylum status under the terms of the new asylum law which was passed by parliament on 16 July. However, most refused, hoping instead to gain entry to the EU, and thus faced the threat of forcible deportation back to Kosovo.


Source: Amnesty International