Kosovo Serbs Live in Isolation
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: We begin in Kosovo, where there are still deep divisions and mistrust among the ethnic Albanian majority and minority Serbs. Many Serbs escorted by NATO peacekeepers are returning to their villages for the first time since fleeing the area two years ago. But for ethnic Albanians, whose loved ones were killed by Serbian forces, their return is bittersweet. Thousands of Serbs left Kosovo after NATO began its bombing campaign to end Belgrade's repression against ethnic Albanians. Fearing revenge, many Serbs were afraid to return until now. Victoria Schultz of UNMIK Television has more on the ups and downs of life for the Serbs of Kosovo.</s>VICTORIA SCHULTZ, UNMIK TV CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Villages often surrounded by razor wire are home to the Serbs that remain in Kosovo. After the conflict of 1999, some 200,000 of them left the area fearing reprisals from the Albanian majority population. Some 150,000 are left. They live in enclaves that soldiers and hardware of the multinational forces stationed in Kosovo protect. The availability of health care is precarious. Some Serbs still pledge allegiance to Belgrade and are reluctant to accept international help. So, a local clinic receives small amounts of medicine from many different sources. Though most patients are elderly, only a pediatrician is available to examine them.</s>DR. MIRJANA MILOSAVLEVIC, PEDIATRICIAN (through translator): It is very difficult to be a doctor in this circumstances. We provided different health services before, but now our hands are tied.</s>SCHULTZ: Yet young people do get married in the Serb villages, as this couple that signs the official documents. The ceremony calls for a large party and musicians who do not often have a chance to make money. The future for a young couple is bleak, with high unemployment and restricted freedom of movement, yet the option of migrating elsewhere is not appealing, so they stay, guarded by different kinds of fire power. Market day in a small town. The prices are marked in Yugoslav dinars, not the German marks used elsewhere in Kosovo. The produce comes from small farms and backyards of private houses. Although the prices are low, shoppers are few, because most people in the villages grow their own. The money is a constant reminder of the deep division that troubles the region. A woman who sells milk products realizes it is time to go catch the special bus service for Serbs. She has made some money today, but another woman packs all the milk bottles she brought. She has not sold a single one.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): It is very hard to work in agriculture, it is hard to work in this job.</s>SCHULTZ: People gathering at the bus stop. If they miss their bus, they have no other safe way to travel home. The United Nations administration provides this free transportation for 30,000 passengers each month. The buses have windows reinforced with thick Plexiglas shields.</s>SOREN PETERSEN, DANISH REFUGEE COUNCIL: Sometimes when we're doing the transport, and even though we have escort, some people tend to throw stones at our buses, so that is why we have the Plexiglas, in order to protect the passengers.</s>SCHULTZ: The buses promote the small business activities that bring in a trickle of Yugoslav dinars and an occasional German mark into isolated communities. (on camera): The lifeline of the guarded buses provides the Serbs of Kosovo with a daily reprieve from the razor's edge. This is Victoria Schultz of UNMIK Television, reporting from Kosovo for CNN WORLD REPORT.