Germany wants to send some 14,000 refugees back to Kosovo, Reuters quoted the interior ministry as saying today, sparking protest from an opposition lawmaker who said such a move would put them at risk. Ministry spokesman Stefan Paris said Germany would aim to sign an accord organising the return in the autumn with the Kosovar government that will conform with international human rights standards. But opposition member of parliament Ulla Jelpke, from the far-left Linke party, said that around 10,000 of the refugees were from the Roma minority group, and that returning them to Kosovo would put them in danger. "Kosovo is a country in which minorities are deeply discriminated against and persecuted," she said. The security situation in Kosovo has improved according to NATO, which has around 14,000 peacekeeping troops stationed there and expects to reduce the number to a little more than 2,000 over two years. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in February 2008, nine years after a NATO-led air war forced Serbian security forces out of the area, ending Belgrade's crackdown against ethnic Albanians.
