AT A GLANCE
- UNHCR steps up preparations for the return of refugees and
displaced people following reports Yugoslavia has agreed on an international peace plan
for Kosovo.
- A total of 165 refugees arrive at the Morini crossing in
northern Albania hours after they are freed from a Kosovo prison; fighting continues
between Serbian security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army along the border.
- No arrivals are reported at the main border crossing at
Blace, but 370 Kosovars are able to enter elsewhere in the FYR of Macedonia.
- Six commercial buses transport 375 Kosovars to Montenegro
amid continuing border tension.
- Departures on Thursday from the FYR of Macedonia total 858,
bringing the overall count of humanitarian evacuees under a UNHCR-IOM program to 76,500.
- The number of refugees and displaced people in the region
is 782,100 – 69,300 in Montenegro, 247,800 in the FYR of Macedonia, 443,300 in
Albania and 21,700 in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS
UNHCR stepped up its preparations for the return of
refugees and displaced people to their homes following reports that Yugoslavia has agreed
to a peace plan on ending the conflict in Kosovo.
UNHCR has welcomed Yugoslavia’s acceptance of the
peace arrangement, announced in Belgrade Thursday, but it stressed that the return of
refugees and the displaced will depend on the security situation in Kosovo.
Under the peace plan, UNHCR will take the lead role in the
repatriation movement. UNHCR had been coordinating humanitarian assistance in Kosovo until
its staff were pulled out of the Serbian province on the eve of NATO airstrikes against
Yugoslavia on 24 March. At that time, UNHCR was assisting 400,000 people in Kosovo and
nearly 100,000 others in the FYR of Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro.
Even as UNHCR gears up for the return movement, it remains
focused on delivering emergency assistance to Kosovars in the asylum countries. Programs
to improve water and sanitation facilities as summer approaches are in full swing;
planning for needs during winter both in and out of Kosovo also continues.
News reports Thursday afternoon said Belgrade had agreed
to a peace plan brought by representatives of Russia and the European Union. The main
points were an end to violence and repression in Kosovo, "verifiable withdrawal"
of Serbian troops and deployment under UN auspices of an effective international civil and
security force.
Reaction in the refugee camps in the FYR of Macedonia and
Albania to Belgrade’s reported acceptance of the peace plan was mixed. Some refugees
were skeptical, others said they were prepared to return as soon as possible.
An initial gauge of the reaction can be seen from the
decreased movement of refugees from the border town of Kukes in northern Albania to the
interior under a UNHCR program prompted by security concerns. An average of 2,000 refugees
have been leaving Kukes in the past several weeks for points south, but on Friday, of the
20-tractor wagons which were scheduled to be escorted out by NATO only four showed up.
This week, arrivals in Albania and the FYR of Macedonia
fell dramatically after Serbian authorities, in a sudden shift in policy, began allowing
only people who have proper documents to leave.
ALBANIA
A total of 165 Kosovar men arrived at the Morini crossing
on Thursday hours after they were freed from the Smrekovnic prison outside the northern
Kosovo town of Kosovska Mitrovica.
Heavy shelling was reported on the Serbian side of the
border, where security forces have been battling the Kosovo Liberation Army in recent
days.
The arrivals – between the ages of 16 and 65 –
said they had been held captive for two weeks at Smrekovnic until 11 a.m when they were
released apparently to make room for 500 to 800 new detainees who were brought in on
Wednesday.
The freed men were put on a bus and arrived in Albania
through a village called Vernice, three kilometers from the Morini border crossing, where
they said they encountered a paramilitary soldier, who came out of a burned out house. He
demanded money, but since they had none, he fired his gun in the air and let them through
to Morini, from where they proceeded on foot.
The refugees said they originally came from Vucitrn, a
town just south of Kosovska Mitrovica. They had no food for the first four hours of their
imprisonment and were beaten regularly. They said four men among them were later taken
away by police and were never seen again.
Upon their release, they were ordered to sign a paper
saying they were "terrorists." One man said that before his capture he had been
eating only potatoes. Food was running out in Kosovo and it was difficult to find anything
in the shops.
More than 2,000 detainees have been freed from the
Smrekovnic jail in the past two weeks.
FYR of MACEDONIA
For the second time this week, no arrivals were reported
through the main Macedonian border crossing at Blace as Serbian authorities enforced a new
policy this week of allowing only people with passports to leave.
However, 370 people entered the FYR of Macedonia in two
places. Around 300 refugees came in through Tabanovce. All had papers except for one
family and UNHCR had to intervene to get them from the no-man’s land because one
member – a 9-year-old girl – was suffering from appendicitis and had to be taken
to a hospital.
Seventy refugees who had no papers came in through the
mountains in the Jazince area.
Reports of atrocities in Kosovo continue. Refugees who
arrived at Tabanovce from Pristina said that Serbian police were conducting house-to-house
searches for people who had taken shelter from the neighboring villages. Those found were
forced to leave. Arbitrary arrests were reported. At Verbica in Gnjilane, a refugee said
that on 15 April 11 people, mostly members of her family, were killed by the military. She
said she witnessed some of the killings. Refugees from villages in Kosovska Kamenica said
soldiers were burning houses and killing civilians. The reports could not be verified.
MONTENEGRO
Six buses on Thursday transported 375 Kosovars from
Kosovska Mitrovica in northern Kosovo to Podgorica and Ulcinj in Montenegro. Hundreds of
people from Kosovo have been arriving daily in Montenegro in recent weeks.
The arrivals have strained facilities for
the displaced at Ulcinj. The newly opened Pine II camp is now full and arriving Kosovars
are stuck at the bus station. UNHCR has contracted a local bakery to distribute 600 loaves
of bread each day to the arrivals at the bus station.
Meanwhile, a search for new accommodations continues. One
possible camp site identified previously was rejected because it was close to an army
installation.
UNHCR has been transporting arrivals at the Montenegrin
border town of Rozaje to Ulcinj following increased military activity in the area.
UNHCR-IOM HUMANITARIAN EVACUATION PROGRAM
Departures under the humanitarian evacuation program of
UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration totaled 858 on Thursday, bringing
the overall count to 76,475.
Destinations were Austria, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland,
Turkey and the United Kingdom.
UNHCR has received offers for 137,000 places in 40
countries under the program.
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Document compiled by Dr S D Stein