Kosovan Australians

Kosovan Australians
Regions with significant populations
	Sydney · Melbourne
Languages
	Australian English · Albanian · Serbian
Religion
	Muslim (Sunni, Bektashi); Christian (Roman Catholic, Serbian Orthodox)
Related ethnic groups
	Albanian Australians

Kosovan Australians or Kosovar Australians is a community of Kosovo-born people in Australia. The majority, as in Kosovo, are ethnic Albanians and belong to the wider Albanian diaspora. Their number is unknown since the 2006 Australian census did not record figures of people born in Kosovo[1] or of Kosovan ancestry.[2]

Immigration history

Kosovo Albanians

On 12 May 1999, the first 200 ethnic Kosovan Albanian refugees from Kosovo arrived in Tasmania. They were housed initially at the Brighton Military Barracks (renamed the Tasmanian Peace Haven).[3] At the height of the conflict in Kosovo in 1999, 4,000 Kosovo Albanian refugees who had been driven out of their homes by the Yugoslavian army and had been in refugee camps, were flown to safe havens dotted around Australia. However, most were forced to return when their temporary visas expired.[4][5] In response to the request for help from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Australia developed a new category of visa: the Safe Haven visa. It did not allow for the possibility of permanent residency in Australia for the refugees,[6] but did allow the Kosovars special entry to Australia – for an initial period of three months – which could be extended until it became safe for them to return home.[7] In July 1999, the UNHCR assessed the situation in Kosovo as being secure enough for most of the Kosovan evacuees to return home. Australia immediately began arranging for the return of the Kosovans. After repatriation approximately 500 Kosovans remained. Initially 200 were granted visas, other than the "safe haven visa," on various grounds.[6]

Kosovo Serbs

Notable people

Labinot Haliti – football (soccer) player, Western Sydney Wanderers FC
Fadil Muriqi, born in Peć
Besart Berisha, born in Pristina
Arta Mucaj – Actress born in Prizren Kosovo. Known for roles in Home Sweet Home as Hana and Njerez dhe Fate (People and Destinies) as Didi.

References

"20680-Country of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex – Australia" (XLS). 2006 Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 2 June 2008. Total count of persons: 19,855,288.
"20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex – Australia". 2006 Census. Australian Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (XLS) on 10 March 2008. Retrieved 2 June 2008. Total responses: 25,451,383 for total count of persons: 19,855,288.
"1384.6 – Statistics – Tasmania, 2005". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 2005. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
"Kosovo family seeks safety in Australia". The 7.30 Report. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 30 October 2000. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
Vicary, Dave; Searle, Grey; Andrews, Henry (2000). "Assessment and Intervention with Kosovar Refugees". The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies. 2000-2. ISSN 1174-4707. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
King, Jackie (2003). "Australia and Canada compared: the reaction to the Kosovar crisis". Australian Journal of Human Rights. 9 (2). Archived from the original on 17 September 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2008.
"Operation Safe Haven". DIMA Annual Report 1998-99. Department of Immigration and Citizenship. 1999. Archived from the original on 11 September 2006. Retrieved 2 June 2008.