A lawsuit regarding the deactivation of addresses of Albanians in southern Serbia has been sent to the European Court of Human Rights, lawyer Drini Grazhdani announced in a Facebook post.
According to him, the lawsuit against Serbia is the result of a “joint legal and human work” and is related to an issue that, as he said, has broad public importance. He thanked his collaborators for preparing the case, while also singling out Teuta Fazliu, who, according to him, has agreed to represent the case in question. “This case is not just about an individual, but about the standards of human rights protection and the prohibition of systematic discriminatory practices,” he wrote.
The deregistration of addresses means the deletion of citizens from the addresses where they were registered. This action results in the loss of Serbian citizenship and, consequently, civil rights, including the right to vote, to own property, to benefit from health insurance and pension, as well as to be employed, informs REL. The issue has been repeatedly raised by Albanians in Presevo, Medveđa and Bujanovac, as well as by the Government of Kosovo, which has described the practice as discriminatory. Protests have also been organized on this topic over the years.
In the Progress Report for Serbia published on November 4 by the European Commission, in the section on the protection of minorities it is stated that "members of the Albanian national minority continue to raise concerns regarding the way the police check their residence status in southern Serbia, resulting in the 'passivation' of certain addresses."
The report notes that authorities should better explain to the public how these checks are carried out and address concerns about the lack of effective means of appeal. The issue of passivation was also mentioned in the US State Department's 2023 report on human rights in Serbia, which states that this practice appears to be disproportionately applied to Albanians, especially in Medvedja.
The European Commission report also states that the action plan to improve the representation of Albanians in institutions "has not yet produced the necessary results" and that national minorities continue to be underrepresented in public administration and the police.
According to the latest population census in 2022, more than 60.000 Albanians live in Serbia, making up the fourth largest minority in the country.
The Presevo Valley – a term used for Presevo, Medvedja and Bujanovac – is considered an isolated area in international reports, receiving attention mainly during election periods.
In July of this year, the only Albanian MP in the Serbian Parliament, Shaip Kamberi, submitted a draft resolution on the situation of Albanians in the Valley, demanding that this issue be included in the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue mediated by the European Union and that administrative measures for deregistration of addresses be suspended./ REL
