Kosovo: "Highest ever concentration of lead registered in human hair samples” – GfbV fears misuse of German aid funds

The "highest ever concentration of lead registered in human hair samples” was in his words the finding of the renowned environment medical expert Klaus-Dietrich Runow in his investigations in the three UN refugee camps for 560 Roma and Ashkali in Kosovo. This is one of the shattering results of the analysis of 66 hair and blood samples presented by the Medical Superintendent of the Institute for Functional Medicine and Environment Medicine (Bad Emstal) on Tuesday at a press conference of the Society for Threatened Peoples International (GfbV) in Berlin.

The President of the GfbV International, Tilman Zülch, charged the UNMIK, the "temporary administrative mission of the United Nations in Kosovo” of knowingly exposing the refugees and their children to an extremely high concentration of the deadly poisonous heavy metals and demanded the immediate closing of the camps Cesmin Lug, Kablare and Zitkovac. "We agree with Dr Runow that all the Roma and Ashkali accommodated there must be brought to a non-contaminated area in acceptable housing, that they be examined by an international team of doctors and then decontaminated in therapy centres in western Europe specialising in environmental medicine.”

The GfbV also pointed out to the German government that the UNMIK evidently plans to use the 500,000 Euros granted by Germany a few days ago for the resettling of the refugees to rehouse the Roma and Ashkali in barracks previously used by the French Kfor troops. This would be misuse of German aid funds, for the barracks also lie in the contaminated area, said Zülch.

"The consequences for the refugees in terms of environmental medicine are that they will suffer irreversible damage to the nervous and immune system and disorders of bone growth and haematopoiesis if help is not rapidly provided”, warned Dr Runow. The lead concentation measured lies in nearly all 66 examined cases more than 200 times above the reference level. In many cases it is considerably higher. Extreme values were for example seen in the analysis of a seven-year old child, whose lead values lay 1,200 times above the reference level. In all analyses besides lead the following toxic metals were measured: antimony, arsenic, cadmium and manganese. In all samples the level was very low for the trace element selenium, which is important for decontamination and the immune system.

The GfbV had sent the environmental medical expert with an investigation team to Kosovo following the steady deterioration in the health of the refugees. It is above all children who display clear poisoning symptoms like loss of memory, cramp, apathy and comatose conditions. The GfbV Kosovo team fears that several deaths in the camps are due to lead poisoning.

The UNMIK is responsible for the three camps, which – in spite of urgent warnings also from the GfbV – were set up immediately after the Nato intervention in 1999 in the immediate proximity of waste deposits from a mine. Since then the acute danger to health for the Roma and their children has been ignored. They belong to the few still remaining members of minorities in Kosovo. Extremist Albanians have forcibly driven out some 12,000 of the 150,000 Roma, Ashkali and Kosovo-Egyptians who were previously living there. 14,000 of their 19,000 houses – 75 of their settlements and town estates – are lying in ruins or have been taken over by Albanians.

PICTURE and TV EDITORS please note: The GfbV investigation team filmed and photographed the work of Dr Klaus-Dietrich Runow in the refugee camps and thus documented the depressing situation of the Roma. Those interested are welcome to check through our raw material at their leisure. We shall be glad to provide you with photos for publication purposes.