All Ethnically Cleansed and Nowhere to Go

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But the Kosovar attacks on the Roma arent based simply on traditional European stereotyping of Gypsies as a menacing criminal element; theyre a response to the Gypsies perceived support of Serb savagery against ethnic Albanians. Enraged by tales of Gypsies looting Albanian property or being enlisted by Serb paramilitaries to bury the bodies of massacred Albanians and even some accounts of torture and rape at the hands of individual Gypsies - returning refugees and the KLA have vowed to rid the province of its Roma population.

That many Roma people worked for the Serbs usually as manual laborers - throughout their campaign of violence against ethnic Albanians is not in dispute. "Ever since Serbia withdrew Kosovos autonomy in 1989, the authorities have been reluctant to hire ethnic Albanians even as street cleaners," says TIME Central Europe bureau reporter Dejan Anastasijevic. "Because they accepted employment by the Serbs at a time when Albanians were boycotting all Serb institutions, they gained a reputation for siding with the Serbs. But as is the case all over the Balkans and Europe, Gypsies have always been the lowest class of citizen in Kosovo. Serbs dont like them and Albanians dont like them, so theyve always been kept down no matter who is in charge - so theyve simply tried to adapt and accommodate themselves with whoever is in power."

And when the Serbs were butchering Kosovar Albanians, they paid Gypsies to clear rubble and dig the graves. The Roma population many of whom painted the word "Rom" on their houses were also spared by the rampaging Serb paramilitaries. Some individuals are alleged to have played a more actively violent role in the Serb campaign; others to have given the Serbs political support. Other Gypsies actually joined the KLA, although a number have subsequently complained of being forced at gunpoint to do so.

Amid the fury of the returning Kosovars, however, the Gypsy population as a whole is being targeted for retribution, regardless of whether they actually worked for the Serbs or not. "Whats being done to the Gypsies now is ethnic cleansing - it cant be called by any other name," says Anastasijevic. "Its directed against an entire ethnic group. And if those responsible this campaign against the Gypsies are allowed to get away with it, it will legitimize further violence against other minorities in Kosovo, such as the Turks."

Unlike Kosovos Serbs and ethnic Albanians, its Gypsies have few international advocates speaking out on their behalf. U.N. Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson and its high commissioner for refugees, Sadako Ogata, have both visited some of the thousands of Gypsy refugees crammed into makeshift facilities inside Kosovo, and vowed to provide them with support. And pan-European Gypsy organizations such as the Romany Union and the European Roma Rights Center have sought urgent undertakings from NATO to protect their kin in Kosovo. In the end, though, there may be some cynical politics in play. "The campaign against the Gypsies may also be a power play by the KLA," says Anastasijevic. "That raises the question of whether the West will be willing to challenge a key player in the territory in order to save the Gypsies." Although NATO remains formally committed to protecting Kosovos minorities, the history of the Roma throughout Europe over the last five centuries will give the Kosovar Gypsies little cause for comfort.