AT A GLANCE
- UNHCR steps up planning for two eventualities: the return
of the refugees and internally displaced, and for a winterization program, in case
refugees have not been able to return before the onset of winter.
- No arrivals are reported in Albania, but more than 2,700
refugees enter the FYR of Macedonia amid reports of continuing expulsions in Kosovo.
- The airport of Thessaloniki (Greece) is used for the first
time for departures under the humanitarian evacuation program.
- The estimated number of refugees and displaced people in
the region is 743,700, including 64,000 in Montenegro, 226,300 in the FYR of Macedonia and
433,400 in Albania.
Major Developments
RETURN
UNHCR has prepared a concept paper on the anticipated
return to their homes in Kosovo of up to 1.5 million refugees and internally displaced
people once conditions warrant this.
A document outlining a framework for return planning has
been discussed with other U.N. agencies, and shared with donor countries and
non-governmental organizations.
The paper says even if prospects for peace may appear
remote, there is considerable diplomatic activity to find a solution and UNHCR and other
concerned agencies must be ready to help in the return of people forced from their homes,
when this becomes possible.
UNHCR has stressed repatriation will hinge on three
essential conditions: effective security guarantees by the Yugoslav government for
returnees and aid workers, withdrawal of military and paramilitary units responsible for
atrocities and expulsions, and the deployment of an international military force to secure
the civilian population and humanitarian operations.
WINTERIZATION
As attention is given to preparations for return, UNHCR
and its partners must also be prepared to help refugees and displaced people who may still
be in neighboring countries and areas throughout the winter. UNHCR's winterization program
has gotten off the ground with the purchase of 15,000 winter-proof tents. Delivery of the
tents is expected to begin in July.
UNHCR is looking at a whole range of essential projects
which go beyond its traditional programs. These include road improvement, electrical and
water services, among others.
Proposals for the setting-up of an "umbrella"
body to oversee these diverse programs are being considered. Already, several
organizations are moving ahead with winterization plans for Kosovars.
ALBANIA
No one came across the Morini border into Albania
Thursday. Numbers of refugees arriving have dropped precipitously in the last eight days.
Only 63 refugees arrived during that period, strongly suggesting that Serbian and Yugoslav
authorities have effectively halted all but a trickle of people leaving.
A total of 1,355 people left Kukes for the south Thursday.
Official government figures show that since the crisis began a total of 321,040 people
have transited the Kukes area en route to other regions of Albania. The rest of the
refugees in Albania have entered at other border crossings.
In another development, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan
Thursday paid a two-hour visit to Kukes, the small mountainous town in the north of the
country where the bulk of the refugees arriving in Albania have entered. He was
accompanied by the President of Albania.
After meeting with U.N. and NGO personnel working in the
area, the Secretary-General visited two of the tented camps in Kukes, which house around
30,000 refugees. There are an estimated 90,000 Kosovars living not only in the camps but
also in collective centers and with host families in the Kukes area.
Mr. Annan visited clinics, recreational facilities, a food
distribution center and met with several refugees, including a mother with a 3-week-old
baby who had been wounded during her flight from Kosovo.
At a news briefing at the close of his visit, he
reiterated the determination of the U.N. and international community to ensure that all
the refugees eventually return to Kosovo.
In another development, UNHCR and UNICEF signed in Tirana
on Wednesday an agreement to establish "child friendly spaces" in camps and
communities hosting refugees in Albania. Help from the government and other UN agencies
will be solicited in implementing the program which would look for areas where basic
services, including recreational facilities and hygiene programs, could be made available
to children and women.
FYR of MACEDONIA
More than 2,700 refugees arrived in the FYR of Macedonia
on Thursday in the largest one-day influx since arrivals stopped on 5 May. All except 400
who entered through Jazince and Tabanovce came on a train from Pristina.
The train consisting of eight to 10 carriages reached the
Blace border around noon and 25 buses took the refugees to Cegrane and Stenkovec camps.
UNHCR has been expanding camp facilities following reports that thousands of Kosovars may
head toward the FYR of Macedonia after hearing news broadcasts that the border is open.
The refugees who arrived yesterday mainly came from the
Pristina-Urosevac area where they had gathered after leaving surrounding villages. A group
from Kamena Glava in Urosevac said the town of about 5,000 people was hit by artillery
fire on 6 April. The people then fled to the hills, but when they returned later they
found that 90 percent of the houses had been destroyed in the shelling. They had been
wandering since.
The refugees say very few Albanians are left in Urosevac,
previously a vibrant commercial town that was home to around 50,000 Albanians and 5,000
Serbs. IDPs drift to the town from the surrounding villages to get on the train to the
border, the arrivals say.
Arrivals recounted stories similar to those told by people
who had fled earlier — of Serbian army and paramilitary mounting a campaign of terror
and ethnic cleansing that included beating of civilians, stripping civilians of their
money and valuables and burning houses.
One refugee said he was one of the 1,000 passengers on the
train that was sent back on Monday 17 May after it reached the border. He succeeded in
getting off Thursday on his second try to reach the FYR of Macedonia.
Meanwhile, in an ongoing effort to prepare for
contingencies, the government has offered two new camp sites. One site, close to Cegrane
camp, will have a capacity of 8,000 and can be extended to 11,000. The other is located
east of Tetovo and will be able to hold 4,000 to 5,000 people.
MONTENEGRO
Arrivals in Montenegro slowed to a trickle with only 10
Kosovars entering on Thursday. Several hundred had been arriving daily in the past days,
but tension has heightened after the Yugoslav army tightened control over the borders of
Montenegro a week ago.
Also on Thursday, UNHCR transported 90 displaced people
from Rozaje to Ulcinj in a continuing effort to move Kosovars there because of increased
military activity.
HUMANITARIAN EVACUATION PROGRAM
In the first flight leaving via Greece under the
humanitarian evacuation program, 374 refugees flew Thursday to Australia from
Thessaloniki, as part of a plan to expand departure capacity, in view of the congestion of
Skopje airport.
The refugees, mainly women, children and elderly, were
transported in nine buses from camps in the FYR of Macedonia earlier Thursday. They took
off for Australia later in the day.
A total of 2,110 refugees left for third countries under
the program on Thursday, bringing the overall departures to date to 56,592.
In addition to the Australia-bound passengers, the others
who departed Thursday from the FYR of Macedonia proceeded to Austria, Canada, Germany,
Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and Switzerland.
At least 39 countries have offered 135,000 places for the
evacuation from the FYR of Macedonia, with priority accorded to the most vulnerable
refugees, including those in need of special medical care and family reunification cases.
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Document compiled by Dr S D Stein