AT A GLANCE
- UNHCR participates in two-day high level meeting on Kosovo
called by the U.N. Secretary-General.
- New contributions put UNHCR’s funds for Kosovo
refugees at more than $100 million, but shortfall remains serious.
- Only one person crossed the Morini border into Albania
Thursday — the lowest number since the influx began in March.
- For the first time since last week, authorities allowed a
small group of refugees without travel papers to enter the FYR of Macedonia on Thursday.
- Departures under the humanitarian evacuation program dip
below the 2,000 mark; UNHCR looks for ways of accelerating flights.
- The estimated number of refugees and displaced people in
the region is more than 747,000, including 431,000 in Albania, 233,000 in the FYR of
Macedonia and 64,000 in Montenegro.
Major Developments
BALKAN CRISIS MEET
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Sadako
Ogata, and her Special Envoy, Dennis McNamara, are participating in a two-day high level
meeting convened in Geneva by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to discuss the Kosovo crisis.
The meeting closes Friday.
UNHCR also will join the U.N. humanitarian mission which
will depart for Belgrade on Saturday to assess the needs in the region. The 12-day mission
includes a visit to Kosovo.
FUNDING
UNHCR has received new contributions to its operation to
help Kosovo refugees, following a warning earlier this week that unless it received
substantial new cash the relief program would grind to a halt.
A 20 million Euro contribution announced Wednesday by the
European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) put UNHCR’s programs for the Kosovars
at more than $100 million. New contributions from Canada, France and Ireland have also
helped to ease the immediate cash shortfall, which remains serious.
UNHCR had appealed for $143 million for the January-June
program.
Japan is the biggest single contributor, with $23.1
million, or more than 20 percent of all funding received.
ALBANIA
Only one person crossed the Morini border into Albania
Thursday — the lowest number since the influx began on March 27. (Around 2,800 people
arrived that day).
The smallest previous figure was 13 persons on April 25.
There was no immediate reason for this drop though NATO airstrikes were the heaviest to
date along this stretch of the border. There were strikes near the town of Zur, a border
town with a pre-war population of some 6,000.
The one person to cross the border was from Prizren, a man
who was picked up late Wednesday at work and told he would be thrown out the next day. He
said he saw 15 other people from Prizren trying to leave but they were turned back at the
border.
For the last several weeks, Serbian authorities have been
picking up educated Prizren people at work and expelling them immediately.
A total of 4,689 refugees left Kukes Thursday for points
further inside Albania.
Because of the generally volatile situation in the Kukes
region, UNHCR said its personnel would observe an 11 p.m. curfew starting Saturday.
Meanwhile, UNHCR has signed an agreement with the Albanian
government to help families hosting refugees. Under the agreement, the equivalent of $10
in local currency will be given monthly for each refugee a family hosts, up to $120 per
family. UNHCR is setting aside $8 million for three months for the project which will
cover 35,000 families.
The cash arrangement, retroactive to 1 April, will be
implemented once host families have been registered.
In addition, the Red Cross will also attempt to distribute
food parcels regularly.
There are 120 communal centers which are being repaired
with funds from the international community. Also being improved are so-called "mixed
sites" — communal centers and tented facilities.
There are 46 tented camps which have either been completed
or are under construction in 10 prefectures — Kukes, Shkoder, Leyhe, Durres, Tirana,
Elbasan, Fier, Korce, Viore and Gjrokaster.
Of the estimated 431,000 refugees in Albania, nearly
140,000 are in camps or communal centers. The rest are with host families.
FYR OF MACEDONIA
Fifty nine people arrived at Blace border crossing
Thursday. The arrivals included 47 people on a train who were all allowed to cross even
though many did not have passports and some did not even have ID cards. It was the first
time that people without proper documents were allowed to cross the Serbian and Macedonian
borders since last week when the entry points were sealed off.
The arrivals said they had been forced out of their homes
weeks ago and had been moving from village to village. They said many other people were
waiting for a chance to leave.
Meanwhile, UNHCR has reached agreement with UNICEF, WHO
and NGO representatives to conduct a series of health and nutrition surveys in the camps
in collaboration with the Macedonian Mother and Child Health Institute. The plan is to
begin in Stenkovec I and complete the project within two weeks. Additional efforts are
underway to organize a similar survey among refugees staying with families in the
villages.
MONTENEGRO
Hundreds of Kosovars have been entering Montenegro in the
past days. Exact numbers are difficult to pin down because the new arrivals go directly to
the coastal municipality of Ulcinj and others stop in Rozaje.
Rozaje municipality reports around 1,700 people have
arrived since Monday. They came on foot from Pec and Srbica areas. Many were young men
coming alone. Like the new arrivals in Macedonia, they say they have been on the move for
weeks.
HUMANITARIAN EVACUATION PROGRAM
The humanitarian evacuation program slowed on Thursday,
dipping below the 2,000 mark and putting a damper on hopes the daily rate of departures
for third countries from Skopje would be maintained or exceeded.
A total of 1,523 left under the program on Thursday. This
included 268 to Canada, 213 to Germany, 157 to Ireland, 371 to Italy, 148 to Norway, 166
to Switzerland and 200 to Turkey.
So far, more than 44,500 refugees have departed under the
program in which UNHCR has received offers for 135,000 places in 39 countries. UNHCR is
still looking at ways to step up departures.
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Document compiled by Dr S D Stein