AT A GLANCE
- Nearly 300 people enter Morini crossing into northern
Albania on Monday amid continuing clashes between the Kosovo Liberation Army and Serbian
forces.
- In an apparent change in policy, Serbian border police
allow only Kosovars with valid travel documents to leave for the FYR of Macedonia.
- More than 1,800 people arrive over a four-day period in
Montenegro, mostly from the industrial town of Kosovska Mitrovica, where ethnic cleansing
is reportedly continuing.
- A total of 1,102 refugees depart from the FYR of Macedonia
on Monday, bringing to almost 73,000 the overall count of extremely vulnerable people who
have left under the humanitarian evacuation program of UNHCR and the International
Organization for Migration.
- The number of refugees and displaced people in the region
is 781,000, including 67,600 in Montenegro, 249,300 in the FYR of Macedonia and 442,400 in
Albania.
Major Developments
WINTERIZATION
Even as UNHCR and its partners attempt to cope with the
onset of summer in the asylum countries in the Balkans, plans are being made for the
coming winter.
UNHCR hosted a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday to discuss
winterization issues. The meeting included representatives from U.N. agencies, the
European Commission Humanitarian Office, the European Union, the World Bank, the
International Management Group and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
In Albania, a team composed of engineers and consultants
is working on plans for the winter months. It is attached to the emergency management
group headed by UNHCR in Tirana and includes representatives of various agencies. Similar
planning is going on in Skopje.
UNHCR has purchased winterized tents in Pakistan and the
first shipments are to be made to the region next month.
ALBANIA
Around 300 people slipped into the Morini crossing on
Monday despite continuing clashes between Serbian forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army in
Kosovo. NATO airstrikes also continued on the Kosovo side.
Several stray rockets from Kosovo hit Krume, a town about
25 kilometers north of Kukes, on Monday. There were no immediate reports of casualties in
the area, which hosts about 2,000 refugees — 1,000 in a camp, 600 in collective
centers and the rest in host families.
A UNHCR team went to Krume on Tuesday to look into the
situation there. UNHCR transported around 50 people over the weekend from Krume to camps
in the south.
The transfer of refugees from Kukes because of security
concerns continued on Monday, with about 2,000 moving south. The number includes several
hundred who went on NATO trucks to camps in central and southern Albania.
FYR of MACEDONIA
In a sudden change in policy, the Serbian border police
are only allowing people with valid papers to leave for the FYR of Macedonia. As a result
of this new move, on Monday, Serbian police turned back 64 refugees who arrived at the
Jazince border on a bus from Gnjilane and a family of seven.
For a week last month, more than 30,000 people were
brought to the border on trains and buses in a renewed wave of expulsions from Kosovo.
Most of the 331 people who entered the FYR of Macedonia on
Monday came through the mountain passes. Several dozen with valid papers were let in
through the official crossings, including 16 who entered through the main immigration
control at Blace. In some of the cases, UNHCR had to intervene before the refugees were
allowed into Macedonian territory.
The refugees from Gnjilane reported a significant increase
in the harassment and expulsion of Kosovars, including the detention of young men and
targeting of intellectuals. They said that 16 children wounded in an explosion this week
were unable to get medical treatment. They said there were no Albanian doctors available
and Serbians were refusing admission to Albanians in hospitals. They said hospitals were
filled with wounded Serbian police and soldiers. They also reported food shortages and
that Serbian shops were refusing to sell to Albanians.
In a meeting with defense officials in Skopje, UNHCR
reviewed operations in the FYR of Macedonia since refugee arrivals increased in April.
UNHCR has spent the equivalent of $15 million in the country. The figure excludes food
purchases by WFP, but includes payroll for local staff and the cost of other goods and
services. It also includes $3.5 million paid to the government for the construction of
camps.
Meanwhile, work has begun at the new camp site at
Vrapciste following an agreement with the Ministry of Urban Planning and Construction.
Work will proceed in three phases. Initial construction will include camp roads and
latrines and the setting up of water bladders and 50 tents. The camp is expected to hold
up to 6,000 refugees.
MONTENEGRO
More than 1,500 people from Kosovo entered Montenegro over
a four-day period last week. Most of them arrived at the border town of Rozaje by bus from
Kosovska Mitrovica, a key town in northern Kosovo. Refugees say Serbian forces have been
emptying the town which used to have a population of around 70,000 people.
People arriving at Rozaje proceed immediately to Ulcinj,
where facilities are being improved to accommodate new arrivals from Kosovo. Tension has
been reported in border areas following the takeover by the Yugoslav army of border
control last month.
Because of increased military activity in Rozaje, UNHCR
has been moving displaced people arriving there to Ulcinj.
The delivery of relief aid is continuing despite
difficulties at the border. UNHCR Belgrade has received approval for the shipment to
Podgorica of 1,000 mattresses, 40 rolls of plastic, 20 rolls of window plastic, 100 stoves
and 10 boxes of forks and knives.
UNHCR-IOM HUMANITARIAN EVACUATION PROGRAM
A total of 1,102 refugees in the FYR of Macedonia left on
Monday under the humanitarian evacuation program, bringing the overall departures to
72,988. Destinations were Austria, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and
Switzerland.
UNHCR has received offers for 137,000 places in 40
countries for the program.
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Document compiled by Dr S D Stein