25 YEARS AFTER KOSOVO'S WAR ENDED: Displaced Roma people living in Montenegro remain in danger of statelessness

Brendon Berisha was only three years old when he came to Montenegro in 1999. He was born in Kosovo, and since then has had the citizenship of Kosovo. The same applies to the woman with whom they gave birth to their daughter, Elemedina, who was born in 2014 in Montenegro. Shortly after her birth, her parents separate and her mother moves to France. Since both of her parents are Kosovar citizens, Brendon attempts to register his daughter in Kosovo since this is the first requirement before applying for his daughter's documentation in Montenegro, but his efforts are unsuccessful as the court in Kosovo does not permit it without her mother's presence. Brendon must initiate legal proceedings to secure the girl's legal representation, and while this case remains unresolved, time passes. In May 2024, he successfully obtained Montenegrin citizenship for himself. In order for his daughter to obtain the residence permit of the country in which she was born and raised, i.e., Montenegro, she must first obtain the citizenship of Kosovo, and because of the complications of obtaining that of Kosovo after the separation of her parents and the stipulation by the state of Montenegro that the girl first have the citizenship of her parents, today, 10 years old Elemedina has no passport, therefore no citizenship. Elemedina, with all the rights and accesses denied as a citizen born and raised in the state of Montenegro, finds it impossible to have full access to the health services she needs due to the health problems she is currently suffering from for a while.

Some context

In September 1999, Tatjana Perić, affiliated with the European Roma Rights Center, reported from a field mission that approximately 10,000 Roma from Kosovo had been relocated to Montenegro since the onset of the Kosovo war, detailing the harrowing experiences that compelled these individuals to abandon their homes. Conflicting reports emerged, with some sources claiming that Montenegro had taken in 12,000 individuals at that time, while others suggested that even greater numbers of Roma refugees from Kosovo had been welcomed. Nonetheless, in light of the significant transformations these figures have experienced, considering the migration patterns of many individuals to neighboring countries, both within and beyond the region, it is evident that, more than 25 years later, the population of Roma individuals originating from Kosovo has drastically lessened. However, the status of civil documentation for these individuals and their descendants has remained unchanged since the initial crossing of the border. A considerable number have succeeded in acquiring a residence permit; however, the overwhelming majority, if not all, remain without any form of documentation, whether it be a Montenegrin ID card or passport.

Furthermore, the children and later generations of these Roma have neither been able to nor have some even sought to acquire documentation from the state of Kosovo. One contributing factor is that they have not lived in or returned to their birthplaces in Kosovo for over twenty years. Center for Investigative Journalism in Montenegro (CN CG) has come to understand that over the course of more than twenty years, in Podgorica and other cities across Montenegro, there are individuals facing the risk of statelessness, which deprives them of several essential human rights. While pursuing citizenship in their country of residence, where their children were born, remains outside the target's trajectory, it is noteworthy that even 25 years later, there are Roma residents in Montenegro who directly arrived during the war whose children, nieces, and nephews were born and live to this day in Montenegro and who still lack a residence permit, let alone claiming more. The legal, circumstantial, and civil factors surrounding this situation are abundant, yet the more pressing issues lie in the challenges, difficulties, and obstacles these individuals face in meeting the essential conditions and requirements to apply for a residence permit in the first place.

What does it take for an individual to obtain the residence permit as a Roma from Kosovo who fled during the last war there?

Imagine being a citizen who fled Kosovo during the war and has not returned for numerous reasons. You have a legitimate desire to obtain a residence permit, ensuring your continued presence in the country where you have lived and worked for over twenty years, and where your children were born, in this case Montenegro. The chance to transition from refugee status to acquiring a residence permit was provided after the initial decade of living here, specifically between 2010 and 2014. If you have met all the conditions, your residence permit has been granted. What occurred in the instances where the absence of prior documents presents the greatest variety? Being part of a minority community in Kosovo, facing a challenging standard of living and even harsher living conditions, you have often found yourself without documents, whether they were lost or destroyed during the war, leaving you without any identification whatsoever since that time. To obtain a residence permit from the Montenegrin state, you must travel to either Kosovo or Serbia and possess the necessary documents from one of these two countries. Let’s say you choose Kosovo. To accomplish this, you must return there in person; however, crossing the border to return to Kosovo presents a significant challenge as you lack a passport. However, the Kosovo embassy in Montenegro allows you to cross the border with a special letter, which you manage to get with considerable difficulty. Nevertheless, you cannot use this letter to return to Montenegro. Therefore, you must stay in Kosovo until you obtain a Kosovo passport, document all your return activities, and continue to reside there until the passport procedure is completed. Meanwhile, you face the challenges of living in a country where you may or may not have any distant family members, let alone finding a place to stay and a job that can financially support you during that period, during those months. If you haven't returned to Kosovo since the war, and your children were born in Montenegro, which is certainly the case, you should register them in Kosovo by taking them there. Only once they receive their documents in Kosovo, they will be eligible to apply for a residence permit in Montenegro.

Within a matter of weeks CIN CG has successfully identified additional cases, each with its own specifics yet sharing a common thread: a range of challenges, obstacles, and difficulties in the pursuit of the residence permit. A significant obstacle lies in the realms of information and language, which has rendered the application process for obtaining a residence permit either impossible or delayed, even if only momentarily. The lack of cooperation from the embassies, whether of Kosovo or Serbia, is notably sufficient, hindering the provision of necessary assistance for these citizens to obtain relevant documents.

According to Elvis Berisha, the founder and director of the non-governmental organization "Phiren amenca," which has been addressing issues related to civil documentation since 2019, approximately 540 Roma individuals who came from Kosovo in Podgorica have yet to have their civil status regularized, all of which do not have residence permits.
“As for the data, we have the information from Montenegro’s government so far that there are 420 people at risk of statelessness and 120 people in the procedure, or in the process to obtain their residence permit to stay in Montenegro”, Berisha stated for CIN CG.

What or who is complicating the procedure of obtaining documents for these citizens?

Berisha said that although as an organization they have managed to help some people, there are many cases in which, considering their own specific complications, it is very difficult for them to reach the equipment with documentation, for which he also blames the laws in Montenegro and the bilateral relations between Kosovo and Serbia. He added that even though they have managed to help some, the total number does not go down because every day new children are born, i.e. new citizens of these citizens who already do not possess documentation and if as an organization they help solve some cases, new cases will be added with the birth of other children who encounter the same problem, or put otherwise, to which the issue is inherited even prior to birth. 

“So far, as an NGO we have identified and worked out with 62 people, out of which a few of those cases are already sorted out, we have helped them get their Kosovo passports and IDs, and have registered three children which have not been registered nowhere since birth. We have helped them registered in Montenegro and we have registered two children through Kosovo’s embassy in Podgorica. Meaning, so far, we have solutions for some cases, but for some not really. For some cases there are significant complications, and it goes back to the laws, but also to the bilateral relations in between Kosovo and Serbia. Three years ago, in 2021 we have registered them only in Podgorica, and haven’t been in every single house. We have found 416 people, 216 children and 200 adults only in Podgorica, who have not had their documents, or only very scarce documents. After three years the number is almost the same, because even though we have helped some fix the issue, the new generations are coming or new cases which we haven’t identified before.”, said Elvis.

“They do not have any document of Montenegro and who also cannot have any document of Montenegro because they came from Kosovo. For them to be able to get even the permit of residence in Montenegro they are required to have the citizenship either of Kosovo or of Serbia, the passport or the ID of Serbia or Kosovo. And these people have not been registered, ever, neither in Kosovo or in Serbia. And this adds up to the problems. For instance, we have one person, we have many in fact, but I’ll mention this one; this person is born in Kosovo, during the war there he was 10 years old. He has not been registered in Kosovo. When they came to seek refuge in Montenegro his mother and father were Kosovars, but their status was of refugees until 2010 and since 2010 till the end of 2014 was the deadline for them to apply for the status of obtaining the residence permit here. Some have applied, most have, but some haven’t. For instance, this person who has been 10 when he came here from Kosovo, he could not apply for the residence permit because he didn’t have the passport, or the citizenship of Kosovo. His mother and father have not registered him when they came here during the war, nor after the war, and that person has reached the age of 18 while still being without documentation. Once he reached that age, he could not register in Kosovo anymore, because according to the law in Kosovo, until the age of 18 you can register, but once you turn 18 and more one cannot. That person now has his own family, his own children, but in Montenegro that person can’t have neither the passport nor the residence permit, because the same person has never had Kosovo’s documents. Now we are struggling to help him in any way or form, because his dad has died, but even if he were alive, we wouldn’t have been able to do anything because that the law makes it hard for him after he reached the age of 18”, told Elvis.

The case of Besim’s and Valbona’s family

At 51 years old, Valbona Tatari has raised six children and is now a grandma to three. She and her family have been residents of Konik, a predominantly Roma neighborhood of Podgorica, for the past twenty years. She in early 2000 came to Montenegro from Kosovo and to this day nor her nor any other member of her family that is made by 12 other members have ever been issued a residence permit or any form of official Montenegrin documents. She opens out about the difficulties she and her husband went through attempting to get their permits, saying that nobody paid attention to them and that they were ignored and neglected. 

“No one has helped us to get the papers, we’ve gone everywhere. They didn’t even care, to be frank. So, they’ve left us like this”, said Valbona.

She herself has tried multiple times to send her four sons to Kosovo to get their documents there, because even though she gave birth to all of them in Montenegro, she herself has Kosovan citizenship, and for them to pass the border, they were required to have a paper that is given from the Kosovo Embassy in Podgorica, which she claims the Embassy hasn’t provided her with. 

“I have the papers in Kosovo, I have gone and made them there because I used to have none. I am from Vushtrri, but they said to me we don’t have you in our system here, so no papers for you, then I went to Mitrovica and there I was in the system and I got the papers within two weeks there. A woman helped me there. I also got the certificates for my two daughters because they were very young back then. I registered my daughters in my name. They said that I should bring my four sons in order for them to get the papers too. To get the papers for them I had to get them pass the border, meaning I had to take them to Kosovo. How can I pass the border for them without any paper? And this is how my children are left with no papers”.

Valbona claims that having no papers is keeping her and her family from having any access to any service possible and that she herself, having various chronic health problems, has no way to get treatment in the state she is living in for more than two decades now, in the same state that she has given birth to five of her children.        

How do these "paperless children" enroll at any level of education?

Besim, Valbona’s husband, confesses that none of his children ever enrolled in school because of not having any documentation.

“We truly find ourselves in a dire situation. We have been living without any official documents for the past 18 years. Every illness, including the flu and cold, requires us to seek medical care from the private sector. All my daughters and sons are proficient in writing and reading, despite not attending even a single day of school”, said Besim.

According to Elvis, children with a residence permit are eligible to enroll in elementary and high school. However, for children without a birth certificate, the situation becomes more challenging. Some of these children enroll in elementary school but are unable to graduate, which means they cannot continue to high school or any higher education level.

“If they have no birth certificate, they cannot enroll in any education level, but we have some exceptions in primary schools, in which some kids are enrolled, but at the end of the school, in order to have their diploma, they have to provide their birth certificates because of the personal number that is on them,” said Elvis, director of Phiren Amenca for CIN CG.

The case of Besim and Valbona’s children is not the only one where, due to the difficulties parents have faced obtaining their children’s certificates, they have been deprived of any kind of formal education.

What is the direct impact of the lack of documentation on these citizens and the community?

Obtaining public services for these individuals is nearly impossible. When it comes to receiving health services, those who have problems receiving them in Montenegro would not be able to receive them in Kosovo, even if they went there, as they do not have the documentation for this from the state. Even if they were citizens of the Republic of Kosovo, none of Kosovo’s citizens have health insurance in Kosovo either. So, this community, caught between two fires in the middle, feels as it doesn't belong anywhere. The vast majority of this community have residence permits, but these do not guarantee full access to all health services provided in Montenegro’s public healthcare system. However, the lack of citizenship in the country where they live and work causes restrictions and limited access not only in the health sector but also in other sectors. The vast majority of this community, who have a legal residence permit and are not here "illegally," do not have the right to vote, which means they have no influence on public political life and therefore do not have decision-making opportunities. They also cannot run for official state positions, as they are not official citizens of Montenegro, or be part of the army. When they are denied these rights, there is automatically discrimination against them, making them referred and treated as second-class citizens. We note that obtaining Montenegrin citizenship is not an easy process for anyone applying; however, this community includes thousands of children who have been born and raised here, and to whom Montenegro is the only homeland they know and can think of.

Embassy of Kosovo in Montenegro:

Given that these Roma citizens originate from Kosovo and a significant portion of them hold Kosovo citizenship and/or have been born there, it is expected that the relevant Kosovo embassy in Podgorica possesses at least basic information about their situation in this country. But the reality cannot be more different. Despite the numerous complaints of these citizens that the services they seek to receive from this embassy are very slow and often non-existent, when we addressed the same with a few basic questions about the state of this community in Montenegro, including the question of what is an approximate number of Roma citizens who from Kosovo according to this year’s data, or how of can someone apply to get the citizenship of Kosovo after reaching the age of 18, the same is answered with the following sentence: “Unfortunately, we do not have the exact information you are looking for. However, we can direct you to the NGO "Koracajte sa nama - Phiren Amenca," who could potentially provide further assistance”. Yes, you read it correctly, they advised us to consult a non-governmental organization here for basic information such as the number of Roma citizens from Kosovo in Montenegro or on the application procedure for Kosovar citizenship after the age of 18 in Kosovo.

Writes: Hanmie Lohaj

"This article has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of this document are the sole responsibility of CIN CG and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union."