Romani people in Kosovo are part of the wider Romani community, the biggest minority group in Europe. Romani people in Kosovo share a very similar culture, tradition, non-distinguishing physical appearance, with Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians, most of them do not want to be put together as one minority but as distinct minorities. Mainly there are historical differences claimed. Roma speak Roma language in most cases, but also the languages that surround them, such as Serbian and Albanian. In 2011 there were 36,694 Romani, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptians living in Kosovo, or around 2% of the population. Many Romani were targeted by the Kosovo Liberation Army along with Serbs during the Kosovo War as they were considered to be allied with Serbs and Serbian national interests. Romani in Kosovo are much depleted from their former numbers, and have been in both stationary and nomadic residence there since the 15th century. The Kosovo Liberation Army were reported to have expelled 50,000 Romani from Kosovo, forcing them to take refuge in central Serbia, but many of them have since returned to Kosovo.
Subgroups
As in other parts of the Balkans, the denomination of Romani has always been subject to outside pressure. In the official census, the labels Romani and Egyptians were used. After the war and encouraged by the international community, the label Romani, Ashkali and Kosovo Egyptians and its abbreviation RAE became more common. Whereas the Ashkali and Kosovo Egyptians assert their distinct origin, this is sometimes contested by Kosovo Romani who claim that all three groups are actually Romani subgroups. Serbian Romani:
Kovači
Čergari
Srpski Romani
Bugurdjije
Polylingual:
Arlije
Mixed Romani
Albanian Romani:
Gurbeti
Belajie
Muhadjeri
Egyptians
Ashkali
Other:
Turkish Romani
*Divanjoldjije
Croat Romani
*Lipljan Romani
*Janjevo Romani
Political representation
Four seats in the Assembly of Kosovo are reserved for parties representing the Romani, Ashkali and Balkan Egyptian communities.
While all the three groups claim ethnic differences between them, they frequently intermarry. Romani weddings to non-Romani is extremely rare. Egyptians, Romani and Ashkalija however do not classify one another as Gadje.
Education
is of a poor standard, especially among women, due both to native beliefs that formal education is unnecessary, and to discrimination in education in the formal schools who are ill-equipped for the needs of Romani children. Serbianising and Albanizing tendencies have also led to the Romani sliding from the educational mainstream. Third-level education is not attained by the majority of Roma, and of those who do, they are mostly only half Romani, with there being Serb, Turk or Albanian heritage, too.
Discrimination
Following the cessation of the Kosovo war in June 1999 and the subsequent return of ethnic Albanians from abroad, approximately four fifths of Kosovo's pre-1999 RAE population had been expelled from their homes. During the implementation by the Milosevic regime of “Operation Horseshoe” in Kosovo in the early months of 1999, Roma and others regarded as Gypsies were regarded as complicit in siding with the Serbs. The facts are not disputed: Roma assisted the Serbian police in plundering Albanian homes and shops to supply the military action, and in burying the Albanian dead. However, there is no common ground on the interpretation of these facts. Roma say that the forces of the state coerced them into assisting the military operation and that there was no space for resistance. Many Romanis were also recruited into the Yugoslav army to "help terrorise Albanians" and Roma homes were marked with an "R" on their doors to distinguish them from Albanian houses when the Serbian paramilitaries arrived to plunder. Albanians regarded these acts as further evidence that Roma had allied themselves with the enemies of the Albanian nation, and thus many Roma were targeted by the returning Albanians. The departure of the Yugoslav army and police was followed by a series of "retaliatory attacks". By June 1999, the Romani mahala of Mitrovica was burned down and the inhabitants fled. Around 3,500 Roma took shelter in a school in Kosovo Polje following threats and the Roma community of Djakovica were warned to leave their homes. The Romany quarter of Brekoc in Djakovica and Dusanova in Prizren were also burned down. German KFOR troops also discovered 15 severely beaten Roma, accused of taking part in looting and collaborating with the Serbs, in a police office in Prizren that was being used by the KLA as a prison. 5,000 displaced Roma gathered in a KFOR built camp in Obilic where they were subject to insults and attacks by the Albanians. Romani in Kosovo, today live in constant fear of further ethnic unrest. Romani displaced in North Kosovo are today housed in lead-infested camps in North Kosovska Mitrovca. There is ongoing campaign for rehousing and proper health provisions for the families affected, and a fatality estimate ranges from 27 to 81.
