Macedonia: Treatment of ethnic Albanians, including those who are members of the Albanian Democratic Party (DPA)

A 1998 report entitled Albanians in Macedonia, found on The Albanian World Wide Web Home page, a Website dedicated to Albania and Albanian inhabited territories, states that Albanians in Macedonia live in the western part of the country, in an area bordered by Albania in the west and Kosovo in the north. According to the report, Albanians make up for 22 percent of Macedonia's 2 million population and form the country's second largest ethnic group.

 On the rights of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia, the report states that:

Albanians in Macedonia have considerable rights as far as the use of their own language, national symbols and the cultivation of their ethnic identity is concerned, however, international human rights organizations have many times in the past charged the Macedonian government with discrimination against Albanians, primarily in government representation and education. A recent controversy in Macedonia was the establishment of an Albanian language university in the northwestern town of Tetova. The Macedonian Ministry of Education refuses to accredit this institution and the Macedonian government charged it to be illegal and unconstitutional. Albanian political parties and intellectuals argue that the Albanian population is entitled to university education in its own language.

Albanian political parties in the FYR of Macedonia are active in the pursuit of even greater political and national rights for the Albanian minority of Macedonia such as the official use of the Albanian language in local administration, proportional representation in the government and the right to higher education in mother-tongue.

However, the Albanian World Wide Home Page disclaimer states that

although the information provided within the Albanian Home Page has been verified whenever possible, it remains information quoted or derived from other sources and that complete accuracy could not be guaranteed by the Website operators.

A December 1998 report published on the United States Institute of Peace,

Washington DC, Website entitled Peace Watch Online, quotes Arben Xhaferi, leader of the Albanian Democratic Party (DPA) of Macedonia, as saying that the Macedonian government does not invest in economic development or improve the infrastructure in the Albanian areas of the country. The DPA leader also stated that "Albanians represent only 3 percent of the country's public officials and professionals" and that "Albanians and Macedonians need to arrive at an agreement that changes the national system into a bi-national and multicultural system" (ibid.). The report further states that the ousting of the ruling Social Democrats in the 1 November 1998 opened the door to a DPA participation in the new coalition government. A 4 July 1999 Reuters report states that:

When the Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA) joined Macedonia's coalition government last year, ethnic Albanians took over key positions in the police and local administration, a move that calmed Albanians but fanned Macedonian fears.

A 15 April 1998 report entitled Macedonia 1998: The Albanian Minority in Macedonia, which is published on the Slavic Research Centre at Hokkaido University in Japan, states that:

The Macedonian constitution has made numerous provisions to further the rights of the country's minorities, including the 23% Albanian minority… Albanian-language education at both primary and secondary level is available. A teacher-training course in Albanian for future teachers in Albanian-language schools has been established at Skopje University. Such a course did not exist in 1994 and shows a determination to abide by European standards on minorities.

State-subsidised Albanian-language newspapers, radio and television programmes also flourish. The newspaper Flaka receives 67% of its operating costs from the state budget, while the remaining 33% comes from sales. Despite government funding Flaka remains editorially independent and has never been interfered with by the state, according to its deputy editor Daut Dauti. Flaka's circulation ranges from 4-6,000 copies a day. A private Albanian newspaper, Fakti, is expected to begin publishing this Spring. Nevertheless, problems remain. An independent, Albanian-language university was set up in Tetovo in western Macedonia in January 1995. In old Yugoslavia Albanians living in Macedonia would attend the university in Pristina. But after the Serbian closure of Pristina university and during the sanctions many students and teachers came to Macedonia and founded the university in Tetovo.

The opening of this university led to riots in which one person died. Although it is not recognised by the Macedonian authorities, the university is not actively repressed. The need for a separate university is disputed by the Macedonian government, which fears that it could lead to an atomization of Macedonian society. Yet, Professor Sami Ibraimi who teaches English in this university, maintains that because each student has to study Macedonian language and history (alongside Albanian subjects) for two semesters it will actually ease integration.

There are 5 Albanian political parties of which the most important are the Albanian Party of Prosperity and the opposition Democratic Party of Albanians (DPA). The DPA demands that the Albanian minority be named in the constitution as a constituent element of the Republic of Macedonia; that the Albanian-language university in Tetovo be recognised and that Albanian be made an official language of the state. The DPA gained control over Tetovo and Gostivar among several other places in the 1996 local elections. Its leader, Arben Xhaferi, is a former journalist with radio Pristina in neighbouring Kosovo, until he was fired in 1990.

Although the Macedonian government is trying to avoid involvment in the Kosovo conflict, it already has to face an ‘imported' problem from that region. It seems therefore inaccurate when Albanians say they simply want the rights they perceive to have enjoyed under the Yugoslav constitution to be restored. Macedonia never had an Albanian-language university. Moreover, minority rights under communist rule may have looked fine on paper but did not guarantee much.  According to Teuta Arifi, a lecturer in the Albanian language in Skopje University and a proponent of the Tetovo University the old Yugoslav system was ‘cosmetic'.

 International Helsinki Federation's Annual Report 1999 states that in 1998

education "remained a burming issue" as ethnic minorities, particularly those of Albanian origin, were disproportionately represented in secondary and higher education, and that ethnic Albanians were under-represented in public bodies (also IGC 8 Jan. 1999). However, violent incidents such as those which took place in 1997 in Tetovo and Gostivar did not occur, but ethnic Albanians who were victims of violence would seldom report such incidents, convinced they had no recourse.

An 8 January 1999 report published on the Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG) Website entitled New Faces in Skopje includes the ethnic Albanian minority in its assessment of the political situation in Macedonia following the November 1998 election and the challenges facing the new government. The leader of the new government, VRMO-DPMNE chairman Ljubko Georgievski, is quoted as saying that the ultimate goal of his government was to protect ethnic and cultural identities of national minorities within the framework of the constitution of Macedonia, the laws of the country and the international conventions and declarations signed by Macedonia. The report also reviews the human rights situation of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia and their demands. The ICG describes itself a "private, multinational organisation committed to strenghthening the capacity of the international community to understand and respond to impending crises."

No additional information on the situation of ethnic Albanians in Macedonia could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

Albanian World Wide Web Home Page. Circa 1998. Albanians in Macedonia. [Accessed 14 Oct. 1999].

International Crisis Group [Brussels].8 January 1999. Macedonia: New Faces in Skopje. [Accessed 14 Oct. 1999]

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (IHF). 1999. Annual Report 1999. [Accessed 14 Oct. 1999].

Reuters. 4 July 1999. "Macedonians Sell Homes, Flee Ethnic Albanian City." (NEXIS)

Okkaido University, Japan. Slavic Research Centre Website. 15 April 1998. Macedonia 1998: The Albanian Minority in Macedonia. [Accessed 14 Oct. 1999]

United States Institute of Peace, Washington DC. Peace Watch Online. December 1998. Vol. 5, No. 1. Albanians in Macedonia Join Coalition Government. [Accessed 14 Oct.1999]

Additional Sources Consulted

Electronic sources: IRB databases, REFWORLD

Internet sources, including:

Amnesty International. Report 1998.

Human Rights Watch (HRW). World Report 1999.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)

Transitions Online.