Ethnic tension has brought Macedonia to the brink of war and the European Roma Rights Center (ERRC) has expressed alarm at the possible effects on the former Yugoslav Republic's Roma population. The ERRC points to the example of Kosovo, where Roma are still in danger of attack. The Budapest-based ERRC, which contributed this Viewpoint, monitors the treatment of Roma in Europe and provides legal defence in cases of human rights abuses.

The ERRC is concerned about the situation of Roma in Macedonia, as ethnic relations in the country deteriorate and violence escalates to the point of war.

There is a distinct danger that Roma will continue to be excluded from official peace negotiations, as they have been to date. The concerns of other ethnic groups in Macedonia could also be forgotten in the face of pressure by both ethnic Albanians and ethnic Macedonians. Present and future arrangements in Macedonia must begin from the premise that Macedonia is a multi-ethnic society.

Prior to the present conflict, Macedonian authorities systematically denied that Roma suffered human rights abuses. The ERRC concluded after field research in 1998 that there was rampant police abuse and violence against Roma, as well as discrimination in many areas of life.

It has been extensively reported that Macedonia is presently threatened by civil war between government security forces and groups that been variously described as local ethnic Albanian separatists or paramilitaries from Kosovo, or some combination of the two. In a worrying development, following a lethal attack by ethnic Albanian paramilitaries against security forces in northern Macedonia, ethnic Macedonians in the southern town of Bitola went on a rampage in April. They looted shops belonging to Muslims -- primarily ethnic Albanians, but also Torbeshi (Macedonian-speaking Muslims), Bosnians and Roma.

There may be legal grounds for bringing stateless Roma in Macedonia to third countries for protection. Given its present weakness and the large numbers of inadequately sheltered displaced persons there, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia should not be considered as a target country for placement of refugees currently in Macedonia.

In light of events in Kosovo since 1999, the possibility of attacks on Roma by ethnic Albanians must unfortunately be taken very seriously. There are more than 5,000 Romani refugees from Kosovo in Macedonia, unable to return since they were ethnically cleansed from the province following the end of NATO bombing and the return of ethnic Albanian refugees to Kosovo after June 1999. These people are especially vulnerable and should be brought without delay to countries where they can be provided with adequate protection and support.

Following their return to Kosovo, ethnic Albanians conducted a sustained and brutal campaign of ethnic cleansing against Kosovo's Roma and others regarded as "Gypsies". Albanians killed and kidnapped Roma and raped them in front of family members, broke into Romani houses during the night and threatened to kill them if they were there in the morning, removed property from Romani houses, stopped Roma on the street and took their cars and burned entire Romani settlements to the ground.

The situation in Kosovo remains extremely dangerous for persons regarded as "Gypsies". Between February and June 2001, the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force and the U.N. mission in Kosovo, UNMIK, reported one Romani man found stabbed to death in his home; at least 11 instances of assault on Roma; two Romani children abducted or reported missing in separate incidents; six Romani-owned houses set on fire; three cases of grenades thrown at Romani houses. The true number of attacks may be much higher.

An April report by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe stated: "The degree of sophistication and planning behind these recent attacks... challenges the characterisation of continued violence against minorities as isolated attacks motivated by individuals' desire for revenge. It would appear there is an orchestrated campaign or campaigns organised by, as yet, unidentified elements whose aim is clearly to terrorise minority populations, destabilise the province and prevent democratisation and peaceful co-existence. The number of perpetrators arrested and successfully prosecuted for these attacks remains very low."

The ethnic cleansing of Roma from Kosovo in 1999 is the single biggest catastrophe to strike the Romani community since World War Two. Roughly four-fifths of the pre-1999 Romani population of Kosovo remain outside Kosovo and are unable to return because of the threat of violence. Kosovo lies on Macedonia's border. Every Romani person in Macedonia fears at some level that their country may become another Kosovo.

The attack in Bitola indicates a level of ethnic exclusivity among ethnic Macedonians frequently denied by authorities, experts and internationals, and suggests that measures must be taken by Macedonian authorities and international security forces to ensure that minority groups including Roma receive adequate protection.

The full text of this statement and ERRC recommendations can be found on the ERRC website: