Source: http://www.hrw.org/hrw/campaigns/kosovo98/index.htm

KOSOVO HUMAN RIGHTS FLASH #23
MACEDONIA MUST PROTECT KOSOVO REFUGEES,
KEEP FAMILIES INTACT

(New York, April 7, 1999, 10:00pm EDT) —Human Rights
Watch condemns the Macedonian government's forcible
relocation of tens of thousands of Kosovo refugees during the
past 48 hours, in total disregard of obligations under international
refugee law. Since Monday, Macedonian authorities have forced
tens of thousands of refugees onto planes or buses, and
transported them to Albania and other countries. Some refugees
have been separated from their families. In addition, a large
number of Kosovo Albanians who had been waiting for days on
the Yugoslav side to enter Macedonia, were apparently forced
back into Kosovo by the Serbian police. Their whereabouts are
unknown and Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned about
their fate.

"The treatment of Kosovo refugees in Macedonia has been
deplorable" said Holly Cartner, executive director of the Europe
and Central Asia division of Human Rights Watch. "There are
clear international norms that must be adhered to and the
treatment of refugees in Macedonia is an extremely troubling
development."

Until Tuesday, April 6, as many as 65,000 refugees had been
trapped for days in Blace, a muddy "no-mans land" between the
borders of Kosovo and Macedonia, waiting to enter Macedonia.
Refugees were held in appalling conditions, with no shelter,
humanitarian relief, or medical assistance. During Tuesday night,
most of the refugees in this area were forcibly cleared by the
Macedonian authorities. The passports, blankets, and clothing
found at the empty site today by UNHCR officials indicates that
refugees were removed in haste. Refugees were given no
information about where they were being taken and did not give
their consent to be moved. UNHCR and IOM officials were not
informed about plans to move the refugees and were not present
during the relocation.

Reports now indicate that thousands of refugees were taken to
the new transit center at Brazda. Some were transported out of
Macedonia by plane to Turkey, and thousands of others were
taken by bus to Albania and Greece. A Human Rights Watch
representative in Skopje reported that the whereabouts of an
estimated 10,000 refugees apparently relocated during this
period remains unknown. Human Rights Watch is deeply
concerned that those transported out of Macedonia were not
registered prior to their departure and that UNHCR was given
no information about their identities. In some cases, family groups
were not allowed to travel together, and no proper records were
kept to facilitate family reunification.

In addition, the whereabouts of a large number of persons who
had been waiting inside Kosovo at the Jazince and Blace border
crossings is unknown. International monitors reported receiving
telephone calls throughout the day from persons who had been
waiting at the border and were then forced to go back to Pristina
by Serbian police units. Human Rights Watch visited the
Macedonia-Yugoslav border crossings at Jazince and Blace
today. Both were empty of people and reportedly closed on the
Serbian side.

Human Rights Watch urgently calls on the Macedonian
government to keep its borders open and to uphold its
obligations under international refugee law. Refugees should not
be moved out of Macedonia against their will, and every effort
should be made to keep families together. UNHCR and relief
agencies should be given unhindered access to provide assistance
and protection to the refugees.

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Kosovo Human Rights Flash is an information bulletin from
Human Rights Watch. It includes human rights updates on the
situation in Yugoslavia generally and in Kosovo specifically. For
further information contact Fred Abrahams at (212) 216-1270
or abrahaf@hrw.org