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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDA RUEHDBU RUEHDF RUEHFL RUEHIK RUEHKW RUEHLA
RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHNP RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHSR RUEHVK
RUEHYG
DE RUEHBW #1004/01 2471434
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 041433Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY BELGRADE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0194
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHBW/AMEMBASSY BELGRADE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 001004 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR EUR/SCE (PETERSON) AND DRL/AE (NADEL) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV SR
SUBJECT: SERBIA: RESETTLEMENT A RARE ROMA SUCCESS STORY 
 
REF: BELGRADE 357 
 
Summary 
 
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¶1.   (U) In a well planned and coordinated effort, local 
authorities in Belgrade on August 31 resettled without incident 
approximately 160 Romani families living in an illegal settlement 
under the Gazela bridge in downtown Belgrade.  The resettlement, 
executed on the eve of the new school year, cleared the way for 
long overdue reconstruction of the bridge, but more importantly 
removed approximately 1,000 people, including 127 school-age 
children, from squalid living conditions.  Although local officials 
neglected to involve the Human and Minority Rights Ministry and 
some questions remained regarding the fate of non-Belgrade 
residents, the relocation effort represented a rare success story 
involving Serbia's most vulnerable minority population.  End 
Summary. 
 
 
 
From "Cardboard City" to Containers 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶2.   (U) According to press reports, Belgrade municipal 
authorities, in close coordination with  police, fire, and communal 
services representatives, in the early morning of August 31 
undertook a complex operation to resettle approximately 160 Romani 
families living in an illegal settlement under the Gazela bridge in 
downtown Belgrade.  Known informally as "Cardboard City" due to its 
more than 200 temporary cardboard structures and the fact that most 
of its residents make their living collecting recyclable materials, 
the settlement has long been an eyesore and a thorn in the side of 
the local authorities.  Previous resettlement attempts foundered on 
resistance by residents of other Belgrade municipalities to 
"accept" Romani neighbors and complaints from the Romani themselves 
who wished to remain in the city center. 
 
 
 
¶3.   (U) The August 31 operation demonstrated that municipal 
authorities learned their lesson from criticism following their 
April 2009 decision to demolish another illegally established 
Romani settlement known as "Belville" (reftel).  According to our 
contacts, "Cardboard City" residents were informed well in advance 
about relocation plans, and television coverage showed lines of 
buses prepared to transport people to their new homes.  Deputy 
Belgrade Mayor Milan Krkobabic announced that 114 Romani families 
with Belgrade residency (more than 1,000 people altogether) would 
be resettled in 13 of Belgrade's municipalities in 16 square meter 
"residential containers" equipped with thermo-isolation for weather 
conditions and with water, electricity, and sewer connections.  He 
added that the city intended to plant trees and grass and build 
playgrounds in the areas surrounding the containers, emphasizing 
that the entire undertaking would cost 80 million dinars ($1.2 
million). 
 
 
 
¶4.   (U) Approximately 45 families from the Gazela bridge 
settlement were not registered as Belgrade residents and therefore 
ineligible to be relocated within Belgrade under the municipal 
authorities' resettlement plan.  According to press reports and our 
contacts, these individuals were bused to the Serbian 
municipalities in which they previously resided, including Vranje, 
Leskovac, Vladicin Han, and Bujanovac, all of which are in Southern 
Serbia. 
 
 
 
Reactions to Resettlement Mostly Positive 
 
----------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶5.   (SBU) Human and Minority Rights Ministry State Secretary Petar 
Antic, a Roma born in Vienna, told us on August 31 that he, and the 
Ministry, were not informed in advance that the resettlement would 
begin, but that he had not received any complaints.  He explained 
that he had a meeting with Deputy Belgrade Mayor Krkobabic in July 
 
BELGRADE 00001004  002 OF 002 
 
 
and expressed willingness to have the Ministry lend its expertise, 
but the request apparently fell on deaf ears.  Antic also 
complained that he had been unable to obtain a copy of the Belgrade 
authorities' resettlement plan (widely reported upon in the press 
in the past month), although he asked Krkobabic directly.  He 
nevertheless expressed cautious optimism about the quality of the 
plan, explaining that its suitability was one of the conditions put 
forth by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 
(EBRD) for approving a loan for the bridge reconstruction. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (U) More than 60 Roma from the settlement were returned to 
Vranje, according to USAID field office personnel who met on 
September 2 with Branimir Stojancic, the member of the Vranje City 
Council in charge of a social welfare policy.  Stojancic told us 
that the majority of returnees were living in their own residences 
or with relatives, but a small number was placed in a local 
shelter.  A dedicated team from the municipality was working to 
distribute financial assistance (ranging from 140,000 to 200,000 
RSD, or $2,000-3,000, per family) provided by the Labor and Social 
Policy Ministry.  Local officials were also addressing the fact 
that some of the Roma either did not have or had expired identity 
cards, a prerequisite to obtaining financial assistance. 
 
 
 
¶7.  (U) In Belgrade, Mayor Dragan Djilas, accompanied by his deputy 
Krkobabic and other local officials, accompanied 14 resettled 
Romani children to their first day of school in the village of 
Makis.  Vladimir Todic, the city secretary for education, told the 
press on September 1 that a total of 127 children from the 
"Cardboard City" settlement were included in the school system, 
many for the first time.  He announced that special classes would 
be organized for Romani children who needed additional coursework 
in order to catch up with their peers.  Nine-year-old Silvana, 
attending school for the first time, told reporters that she was 
happy to be going to school, adding that she also liked her new 
home because "now we have a bed and water."  In a September 3 
interview with "Blic" daily, Roma relocated to the Belgrade suburb 
of Boljevac echoed the praise for their new accommodations, but 
expressed some angst about adapting to a new lifestyle after two 
decades living under the bridge. 
 
 
 
Comment 
 
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¶8.  (U) Although many Belgrade residents  who cross the Gazela 
bridge every day simply will be relieved that the saga involving 
"Cardboard City" is over, the resettlement effort signified a 
qualitative departure from recent practice.  In a society in which 
discrimination against the Romani population remains deeply 
ingrained, Belgrade officials, despite some hiccups in 
implementation, deserve credit for learning from past mistakes and 
handling a complex issue admirably.  Together with an Education 
Ministry decision to hire Romani teaching assistants for 26 schools 
across the country, the move to new, albeit temporary, homes 
represented much-needed good news for the Romani population.  End 
Comment. 
BRUSH