Save the children
Better service for Romani children in Macedonia
Refugee children from the Romani people have at last seen the opening of an own education centre in Macedonia – thanks to the support of Save The Children.
The suburb of Suto Orizari is situated in the northern outskirts of Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Nearly 80 percent of the population there consists of Romani people, and it is the world’s only community with a Romani mayor. For almost a decade this community has been depending on support from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Hafdis Einarsson is a member of Save the Children’s emergency organization, and has been on several assignments in Macedonia. She is currently on assignment with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: She assists UNHCR in finding a feasible solution to the difficult living conditions of the Romani people in the region. Those people are actually remaining refugees from the huge refugee flow from Kosovo in 1999. The government in Macedonia has not yet been able to find a solution to this refugee issue.
New centre: A brand new education centre for refugees and asylum seekers was inaugurated on January 29, 2009, in Suto Orizari. The centre will be a gathering point for education, counseling, relaxation and other activities of importance to the refugees still remaining in the county.
The aim of the support centre is to help refugees to become independent, and to prepare a better ground for voluntary repatriation or improve local integration.