An estimated 250,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) – mainly ethnic Serbs and Roma who fled within and out of Kosovo when Yugoslav forces withdrew in 1999 –
are still unable to go back to their pre-war homes in the now UN-administered province. The overwhelming majority of IDPs live in Serbia, but smaller numbers have also found refuge in Montenegro and parts of Kosovo. An outbreak of ethnic violence in March 2004 newly displaced some 4,200 people, most of them Serbs but also Roma and Ashkaeli, and effectively put a halt to the return momentum which had slowly built up in previous years. The clashes marked a step further in the separation of communities and resulted in a serious loss of confidence in the capacity of local authorities and the international community to rebuild a multi-ethnic Kosovo.