Sabit Tahiri
UNMIK is here to build bridges, not to put barbed wire on bridges. UNMIK is determined not to create enclaves, but that is exactly what is happening.”
Sabit had a lot to say about the war, UNMIK, and the local economy —mostly critical. He is studying air traffic control at the Pristina airport. Prior to and during the war, he worked for various organizations, including the International Medical Corps. He left Pristina six days prior to the NATO bombing and worked in various refugee camps in Albania and Macedonia. Sabit emphasized that while the world’s attention
during the war was on the Blace camp in Macedonia, Kukes in Albania was truly hell. Refugees in Macedonia lived in tents and received food and medical care. In Kukes, there was nothing. When he went back into Kosovo “there was life, sort of. Villages were totally destroyed. Injured people were in really bad shape.”

Sabit’s biggest criticism of UNMIK, like many other Kosovars we spoke with, is that they do not involve the local population enough in decision-making. “UNMIK cannot work here without Albanians. They must work with local guys.”

“Every second word a person says is ‘independence’. Go to work, do your job, but think about independence.” According to Sabit, the Kosovars have finished the war but not the war for independence.

His parting words, “This is something no one understands. No one knows what is going on. And it was like this since the first day, during the air strikes and now: It is a big game between powerful people and we eat the dust, or something else.”