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Montenegrins are a South Slavic people who are primarily associated with the Republic of Montenegro. They form an ethnic minority in the Serbian region of Kosovo.
The Montenegrins were primarily concentrated in the municipalities of Peć, Priština, Kosovska Mitrovica, Istok, Dečani, and Đakovica, until 1961. In the period from 1961-1981, the Montenegrins disappeared from 243 settlements, which, combined with the 760 settlements that had no Montenegrin inhabitants in 1961, gives a total of 1,003 settlements without a single Montenegrin inhabitant. As a result of conflicts with the ethnically dominant Albanians, many Montenegrins moved from Kosovo to Montenegro or to Serbia proper.
[edit] History
[edit] Allegations of discrimination by Albanians
During the Albanian demonstrations in Kosovo, Montenegrins along with Serbs were allegedly targeted, particularly in regions where they were more significantly outnumbered by Albanians. Responding to a survey presented to the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, one respondent from Kosovo said, "Relations in the settlement were bad. Young Albanians started carrying nationalistic symbols, spitting at the old Serbs and Montenegrins, beating up Serbian and Montenegrin children, threatening, toting knives and chains." One Kosovar-Montenegrin bus driver reported, "I once was made to drive an Albanian on the bus to his house, off the main bus line. If you try to say 'No', they just take out a pistol and say: 'Go back to Montenegro, go back to where you came from, we'll kill your kids if you refuse to obey'".
Women from emigrant Serbian and Montenegrin families surveyed claimed harassment and even physical assaults, especially when they went out without male accompaniment, even in bigger towns. According to many of the Kosovar respondants, Serbian and Montenegrin girls were not even safe at school. Because of the dangers lurking on the way to and from school, and in school itself, many girls dropped out.
There were also reports of economic discrimination, with Serbian and Montenegrin vendors being boycotted or Serbian and Montenegrin customers being treated rudely or unfairly by Albanian shop workers. Serbian and Montenegrin men and women complained of unfair hiring policies and discrimination on the job, with, as one example, Serbians and Montenegrins being required to exhibit proficiency in Albanian, while Albanian employees were not tested for multilingual skills. Montenegrins and Serbs reported being edged out of managerial positions through early retirement or closing down of jobs—particularly in the fields of education, where it was claimed their services were less necessary with the dwindling number of Serbian and Montenegrin children—through transferral to other jobs, deprivation of rights or outright dismissal.
[edit] Demographics
- 1948 census - 28,050 (3.9%)
- 1953 census - 31,343 (3.9%)
- 1961 census - 37,588 (3.9%)
- 1971 census - 31,555 (2.5%)
- 1981 census - 27,028 (1.7%)
- 1991 census - 20,365 (1%)
- 1995 unofficial estimate - around 7,000 (0.3%)
- 1998 estimate - about 23,000
[edit] See also
[edit] References
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