Kosovar Australian

Infobox Ethnic group
group = Kosovar Australian
poptime =
popplace = Sydney, Melbourne
langs = Australian English, occasionally Albanian.
rels = Orthodox, Protestant, Roman Catholic
related-c = Kosovar people, Serbian Australian, Montenegrin Australian, Serbs, Montenegrins and Croats

Kosovar Australian are a national minority in Australia of people born in Kosovo or with Kosovar ancestry. The 2006 Australian census did not record figures of people born in Kosovocite web| url = http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?action=404&documentproductno=0&documenttype=Details&order=1&tabname=Details&areacode=0&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&javascript=true&textversion=false&navmapdisplayed=true&breadcrumb=POLTD&&collection=Census&period=2006&productlabel=Country%20of%20Birth%20of%20Person%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&producttype=Census%20Tables&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&topic=Birthplace& |title = 20680-Country of Birth of Person (full classification list) by Sex - Australia|format = Microsoft Excel download |publisher = Australian Bureau of Statistics | work = 2006 Census| accessdate = 2008-06-02 Total count of persons: 19,855,288. ] or of Kosovar ancestry.cite web| url = http://www.censusdata.abs.gov.au/ABSNavigation/prenav/ViewData?breadcrumb=POLTD&method=Place%20of%20Usual%20Residence&subaction=-1&issue=2006&producttype=Census%20Tables&documentproductno=0&textversion=false&documenttype=Details&collection=Census&javascript=true&topic=Ancestry&action=404&productlabel=Ancestry%20(full%20classification%20list)%20by%20Sex&order=1&period=2006&tabname=Details&areacode=0&navmapdisplayed=true& | title = 20680-Ancestry (full classification list) by Sex - Australia| format = Microsoft Excel download |publisher = Australian Bureau of Statistics | work = 2006 Census| accessdate = 2008-06-02 Total responses: 25,451,383 for total count of persons: 19,855,288.]

On May 12 1999 the first 200 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo arrived in Tasmania. They were housed initially at the Brighton Military Barracks (re-named the Tasmanian Peace Haven). [cite web|url = http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/bb8db737e2af84b8ca2571780015701e/023D0AE607B22BE0CA256C3200241898?opendocument|title = 1384.6 - Statistics - Tasmania, 2005 | date = 13 September 2002| publisher = Australian Bureau of Statistics| accessdate = 2008-06-02] At the height of the conflict in Kosovo in 1999, 4,000 refugee Kosovo Albanians who had been driven out of their homes by Serb forces 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. [cite news| url = http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/stories/s205893.htm|title = Kosovo family seeks safety in Australia| date = 30 October 2000| work = The 7.30 Report| publisher = Australian Broadcasting Corporation| accessdate = 2008-06-02] [ cite journal|url = http://www.massey.ac.nz/~trauma/issues/2000-2/vicary.htm| title = Assessment and Intervention with Kosovar Refugees | last = Vicary| first= Dave | coauthors = Grey Searle and Henry Andrews | year = 2000| journal = The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies | volume = 2000-2 | id = ISSN: 1174-4707 | accessdate = 2008-06-02] 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. cite journal | last = King | first =Jackie | year = 2003 | title = Australia and Canada compared: the reaction to the Kosovar crisis| journal = Australian Journal of Human Rights| volume = Volume 9| issue = Number 2 | id = | url = http://austlii.law.uts.edu.au/au/journals/AJHR/2003/15.html | accessdate = 2008-06-02 | quote = ] The visas allowed 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.cite web|url = http://www.immi.gov.au/about/reports/annual/1998-99/html/safe.htm| title = Operation Safe Haven| work = DIMA Annual Report 1998-99| publisher = Department of Immigration and Citizenship | year = 1999| accessdate = 2008-06-02] In July 1999, the UNHCR assessed the situation in Kosovo as being secure enough for most of the Kosovar evacuees to return home. Australia immediately began arranging for the repatriation of the Kosovars. After repatriation approximately 500 Kosovars remained initially . 200 were granted visas, other than the "safe haven visa" on various grounds.

ee also

*Albanian Australian
*Serbian Australian

References