The repatriation of ethnic-Albanian refugees from Kosovo is not going ahead in the way that the authorities here would like to see. At the beginning of this year, an EU-funded project was launched with the object of encouraging refugees and asylum-seekers to return to their home neighbourhoods. It is already clear that in the case of the Kosovar Albanians, the targets are not being reached.

   

When the project was started, the goal was to see to the assisted return of 150 refugees. Only 21 Albanians have packed their belongings and gone home, however.

   

The Project Coordinator Niklas Reuter of the IOM (International Organizaton for Migration) admits that the Albanians' lack of interest was a surprise. In earlier and similar projects they have shown a great deal more enthusiasm for going home.

Reuter says that one reason

may be that those ethnic Albanians who arrived here in the early 1990s have already put down fairly deep roots in Finland. For families with children, return to the old country could be very difficult, as the kids have gone to school here, learnt the language, and adapted to Finnish ways.

   

The poor economic and social prospects in Kosovo are also probably playing a part in hindering returnees. A test group went back during the course of the IOM project and it became clear that return home was out of the question for anyone who had some illness requiring special treatment.

   

The project has also included a number of training programmes, including first aid and health care courses and the teaching of computer skills, to smooth the way to a return home. Reuter is at pains to point out that the idea is not to pressure the Albanians to leave Finland, but rather to give them the wherewithal and the resources to do it. Financial assistance can be given to start a business, and help is available for job-seekers.

Even if the numbers

have fallen short of expectations, the project has not been a complete failure, as many others have shown an enthusiasm to return home that the ethnic Albanians have lacked.

   

For example more than 100 asylum-seekers have decided to leave Finland.

   

Also the return of elderly Bosnian citizens has gone rather better. In these cases, however, the yearning for the "green, green grass of home" is a great deal stronger; most want to be buried on home soil.