and training of local police and a large number of international police remain on the United Nations payroll as well. However, this vast international presence has failed to investigate or to prosecute serious crimes, from murder to organised criminal activity (See pp. 22-24).
Rather than addressing the inadequacies of the security regime in Kosovo, UNMIK has instead placed a disproportionate burden on individual Kosovans for UNMIK's failures in this regard. For example, UNMIK can prohibit individuals from selling their property if the buyer cannot prove that the funds being used to purchase the property are `clean' or if UNMIK considers that the sale of the property will create a security risk in the community. These arbitrary restrictions on the sale of property apply only to members of minority communities, who are not compensated for UNMIK's constructive taking of their property. Thus UNMIK violates recognised principles of international law, doing so through the application of a discriminatory law that UNMIK itself promulgated (See pp. 12 and 28).
Many people from Kosovo remain in a limbo engendered by the failure of the International Community to address the nature of Kosovo now and to resolve the question of its final status in the future. Whilst both domestic and international political actors cannot agree about these broader political issues, many individuals trying to conduct normal lives are entangled in a bureaucratic web spun by the politicians. Individuals needing to obtain identification documents, travel documents, birth, marriage or death certificates, and so forth face lengthy delays. Individuals may be required to be physically present at various points in the process of applying for or obtaining documents, posing obstacles for persons not living in the vicinity of the competent governmental authority.
Some aspects of civil life are considered as under the exclusive authority and control of UNMIK, with tight restrictions being imposed on the exercise of rights, for example by allowing the imposition of fines and/or the criminal prosecution of individuals resident in Kosovo who register their vehicles in Serbia proper in order to be able to travel freely to the many European countries that do not recognise Kosovo vehicle registrations. This practice has negatively affected businesses as well as private persons.
Dormant economy and chronic low standards of living
According to the United Nations Development Programme, over half the population in Kosovo live in poverty, with 12 % living in extreme poverty. There are approximately 90,000 persons in Kosovo who have accrued pension rights, but who do not currently receive their pensions. There is very limited governmental financial support for the approximately 29,000 persons who cannot work due to disability, in this post-conflict territory.
Unemployment in Kosovo stands at 65%. The inadequate system of job security and the lack of protection against age discrimination in employment creates an imbalance with the rigid social assistance scheme established by UNMIK. Both the international administration and the newly established local governmental bodies, the main form of public employment, provide only short term contracts. The relevant UNMIK Regulation on labour law specifically excludes these entities from the operation of the law, leaving the employees without any protection. Individuals over a certain age, but well below the statutory retirement age of 65, are often told that they are 'too old' for a given job. Others have been forcibly retired from their jobs at the age of 60. At the same time, the UNMIK social assistance regime generally considers that any household with a member between the ages of 18 and 65 is presumed to be ineligible for assistance, because that family member should be working. If a household has small children, when the youngest has a fifth birthday, the family is considered to no longer
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