BBC ALBA INVESTIGATES THE PLIGHT OF THE ROMA GYPSIES IN KOSOVO
FUIL AGUS LUAIDHE / BLOOD AND LEAD
Monday 25th October at 9pm on BBC ALBA
Mountains of slag and spoil shimmer in the Kosovan heat, the toxic legacy of the area’s lead processing hey-day. However, nearby, in the post war United Nations camps at Cesmin Lug and Osterode created for Roma Gypsies, the human impact of these industrial remnants is emerging.
In this documentary from the Trusadh series, produced by MacTV for BBC ALBA, Perthshire-based Gypsy traveller and Gypsy rights campaigner, Roseanna McPhee and reporter Derek Mackay travel to the former war zone to meet some of the hundreds of gypsy families who have lived cheek-by-jowl with this industrial waste for over a decade.
‘Fuil agus Luaidhe - Blood and Lead’, directed by Annie Cheape, tells the story of the Roma communities who are struggling to cope with the effects of lead poisoning. Many have lived in these ‘temporary’ camps near Mitrovica, for over a decade, despite the World Health Organisation’s condemnation of the camps. Alternative accommodation is now being offered, but conditions are poor and their prospects so grim in the new areas, that many would rather stay in the contaminated zones.
Children at the camps were worst hit, the dust from the spoils entering their bodies and collecting in the organs and the bones, damaging the central nervous system, stunting mental and physical development, and damaging the heart. The camp at Cesmin Lug has just been closed down, at the beginning of this month, although the larger camp at Osterode remains open.
Cesmin Lug camp resident Latif Musurica had thought he and his family would only be living there a short time. Ten years on, at the time of filming, they were still waiting to be moved. Latif said: “[After the war] we needed a roof over our heads so we weren’t looking at what sort of place we were going to. If we had known that this place was contaminated then nobody would have come here and put our children at risk.”
Dr Zoran Savic had been monitoring residents and said: “I’m more bitter than angry. The security of the Roma could have been guaranteed. More could have been done to re-locate them.”
Roseanna wonders if the newly independent Kosovo will take more action. She visits the new housing built for Roma Gyspies only to find that some are already in a dilapidated state and residents are living without basic services. She learns that many are viewing life at the camps as the better option, despite the health dangers.
Mirusha Avdiu and her family lived in one of the camps and her son suffered the effects of lead poisoning and had to undergo several blood transfusions. Her family was given a house in a newly built block, but its walls are crumbling after only a few years. She has no running water, no electricity and no work. She maintains that life was better at the camps, where food aid was available, and work, scavenging for scrap metal, brought in a bit of money.
Mirusha said: “There are no jobs [here]. The children are still ill, they don’t eat or drink. Now they have stopped the benefit and I can’t live without food and drink. Sometimes I want to go back to the camp again.”
Alongside the poor living conditions at the new housing blocks, many claim that persecution is rife. Qazim Gushani and his seven children were recently re-located to the new housing. “Everyone wants to leave the contaminated area but they are afraid they will not have equal rights with the majority,” he said.
As Roseanna meets these people and challenges the authorities, she draws comparisons to the treatment of Roma Gypsies here in the UK, and reflects on the similarities to her own experiences in Scotland. She comments that instead of creating ghetto-like situations, governments need to encourage “something like multi-culturalism” where different cultures co- exist.
“If there’s no discrimination why aren’t the non Roma suffering from the pollution the way the Roma are? Basically, Roma are suffering the same sort of treatment here [in Kosovo] as everywhere else.”
Produced by MacTV for BBC ALBA, ‘Fuil agus Luaidhe / Blood and Lead’ will be broadcast on Monday 25 October at 9pm.