Berlin - Several thousand Kosovan refugees living in Germany are expected to be returned to the region, ten years after the end of the Kosovo War, German media reported Wednesday.

The interior ministry said a deal was due to be signed in the coming weeks between Berlin and Pristina stipulating the return of refugees, according to the report, in response to a parliamentary question raised by the Left Party.

More than 14,000 Kosovan refugees are in Germany, of whom 10,000 are of Roma ethnicity.

Once signed, the agreement would rule that Kosovo in principle accepts all people holding identity documents for the former Yugoslav province or demonstrably lived in the region, according to a report by German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

The German interior ministry pledged to apply for a maximum of 2,500 repatriations annually, and to ensure these were ethnically balanced, according to the paper.

Last year, 900 Kosovans returned to the region, the newspaper said.

The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said Kosovo was still susceptible to ethnic tension and that living conditions were poor, after visiting the region earlier this year. The agency recommended that refugees should be allowed to return on a voluntary basis only.

The German government said that ethnically -motivated violence had declined significantly, and was encouraging people to return to Kosovo by paying them 750 euros
(1,100 dollars) plus the cost of travel, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. (dpa)