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Site Profiles: Interviewee Areas of Kosovo
Southwestern Pristina Municipality- Gracanica, Preoce, Livadje, Laplje Selo & Caglavica
Site Profiles: Gracanica | Preoce | Livadje
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Gracanica
is the economic and cultural focal point of central Kosovo�s Roma and
Serb communities. The village lies nine kilometers south of Pristina- 13
kilometers by road. Laplje Selo lies roughly 5 kilometers west of
Gracanica, connected by a badly-maintained asphalt track. Čaglavica
lies a further two kilometers north of Laplje Selo. Livadje lies several
kilometers south of Laplje Selo on a little-used road that eventually
leads to Donja Gu�terica and Janjevo. Preoce is situated two kilometers
further west of Laplje Selo, on the other side of the Pristina- Skopje
�highway�; this road functions as an exclusionary barrier, and is
evident in Preoce�s economic condition. Preoce, however, is directly
assessable to Kosovo Polje- namely the minority areas of Bresje and
Ugljare- via a road constructed by KFOR in 2000. A remote-controlled mine killed the first two Serbs that used this road- on the day it opened. Security
& Transportation
Southwestern Pristina
municipality�s population
lives under constant guard and constant threat from surrounding Albanian
communities. The security situation has calmed; attacks against minorities have
become less frequent- and more organized. Following the 1999 war�s end,
farmers had their animals mutilated, their equipment stolen, and their haystacks
burned. Others were shot down in their fields- most notably the massacre of 14
Serb farmers in nearby Staro Gracko, Lipljan/ Lipjan in August of 1999. UNHCR
(now UNMIK) minority-transport buses were repeatedly stoned (and sometimes
worse, in the forms of gunshots and RPGs) en route from one minority area to
another. |
Near
Livadje lies Skulanevo; a few days from the time of this writing, a Serb
resident there went fishing and was shot in the mouth.
Ashkalija
in this region have fewer security issues due to language. 15 Ashkalija families
recently returned to the Vranjevac neighborhood of Pristina city.
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Security
within these interconnected villages is now stable, as is access to
minority-owned agricultural land. Swedish KFOR provides security, and is popular
with the community- much more so than the British, who initially secured this
area in June of 1999.* The British marked their arrival with late-night home
raids in search of weapons. Few were found. Serbs
and Roma present in these villages cannot leave the area. Freedom of movement
for Roma has slightly improved; for Serbs, it has not. The Swedes have disabled
the checkpoints that monitored traffic through Gracanica, on the Pristina-
Gnjilane/ Gjilan �highway�; no serious security incidents have occurred
since. KFOR
provides escorts for monthly convoys from Gracanica to Brezovica (�trpce
municipality) and Velika Hoća (Orahovac/ Rahovec municipality). KFOR also
provides biweekly escorts from Gracanica to the Serbian border- Gate 3/ Medare ( |
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Economy
& Infrastructure
Many
area residents garden small plots of land and own a few chickens, goats or pigs.
The luckier ones own cows. This area�s economic mainstays are agriculture,
livestock, and the western NGO/ UNMIK/ KFOR presence. Internationals tired of
living in Pristina have moved en masse to the Serb areas south of the town,
where the rents are cheaper. Pork- not found in many restaurants in Pristina-
draws many internationals to Gracanica�s new restaurants. Before 1999, this
area functioned as a Pristina suburb; those not involved with agriculture in the
immediate area generally worked there. The area also made money from the
religious tourism generated by Gracanica�s monastery.
The
populations of Gracanica, Laplje Selo, Livadje and Caglavica were either farmers
or worked in Pristina before June of 1999. Since then the unemployment rate has
exploded due to Pristina�s sudden inaccessibility, the loss of agricultural
markets, and the inability of many farmers to work their fields due to the
security situation in outlying areas. The influx of Serb and Roma IDPs from all
over Kosovo add to this problem. Without a city the suburbs die; this population
is cut off from employment opportunities and everything from cinemas and
concerts to cultural events. They
lack both the means to earn a living and the institutions to enjoy it.
Gracanica,
Laplje Selo, Livadje, Preoce and Caglavica pay no utilities. Electricity, water
and telephones have been free, albeit intermittent, since June of 1999. Kosovar
utility companies have repeatedly tried to shut down services; KFOR and UNMIK
force restoration.
The
situation, as explained to me by a Serb IDP from Pristina who has been trapped
in Gracanica for four years:
�I�ll
pay for my electricity, and my phone, and my water. Just give me back my
apartment in Pristina, and make it safe enough for me to work there, and they
can have all the money they want.�
95%
of the area�s Serbs are unemployed; 98-99% of Roma are. Those that produce
goods can only sell those goods in the immediate area.
There is little trade with Albanians outside of a few Pristina
distributors that transport bulk goods to the area�s small shops for sale.
Education
Gracanica
has an electro-technical secondary school, a medical secondary school and a
pedagogic secondary school. Serbs from the YU complex in Pristina are
transported to schools in Gracanica every weekday. In addition, primary schools
are located in all interviewee areas, and secondary schools are located in
Caglavica and Laplje Selo. Livadje students attend school in Gu�terica, Laplje
Selo or Gracanica. University students attend school either via correspondence,
in