AT A GLANCE
- UNHCR steps up relief effort in Kosovo, reopens satellite
office in the key southwestern town of Prizren and gears up to meet the needs of
spontaneous returnees; around 8,000 people return to Kosovo from the FYR of Macedonia and
Albania on Tuesday, and more will cross on Wednesday.
- Arrivals of Serb civilians from Kosovo to Montenegro slow
down; 600 Kosovo and Montenegrin Serbs are reported by police to have crossed into the
border town of Rozaje on Tuesday; more are trailing convoys of Yugoslav troops withdrawing
into Serbia.
- A total of 664 refugees in the FYR of Macedonia depart
under the humanitarian evacuation program of UNHCR and the International Organization for
Migration, bringing overall count to 86,000.
- The number of Kosovo Albanian refugees and displaced people
in the region drops to 769,900, including 69,700 in Montenegro, 238,900 in the FYR of
Macedonia, 439,600 in Albania and 21,700 in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
KOSOVO
On its third full day in Kosovo, UNHCR is stepping up a
multi-agency relief effort in Kosovo with assessment teams and aid convoys moving to two
places. The convoys today went to Urosevac and Prizren. On Thursday a convoy will bring
aid not only to Kosovars but also to the Yugoslav Red Cross for the displaced Serbs in the
provincial capital, Pristina.
Thousands of refugees began "voting with their
feet" in a spontaneous movement back to Kosovo on Tuesday, despite information from
UNHCR and KFOR that it may not be safe for them to return yet, since the Yugoslav army
withdrawal will only be completed at midnight on June 20.
Wednesday morning, UNHCR organized impromptu consultations
between AFOR, KFOR, the KLA and the Albanian authorities to set up some traffic control,
as the road between the Morini border crossing and Kukes town became completely blocked by
two-way traffic on the one-lane road.
Way stations are being set up along the route between the
Morini border crossing in northern Albania and Prizren, 18 kilometers to the east, to
provide medical help and water for returnees who might need assistance. NGO staff are
patrolling the road with tow-ropes to move any vehicles which have broken down out of the
way.
Following an initial visit on Tuesday, UNHCR is reopening
an office today in Prizren, which used to be a regional center for UNHCR’s aid
distribution in southwestern Kosovo. Three trucks – two UNHCR and one WFP – are
proceeding there today with food and water. UNICEF also is heading there with mine
awareness material. Catholic Relief Services has set up shop in Prizren already as well.
Similar "pit stops," which will have food and
water, medical teams and mechanics to help those having problems with cars and
tractor-trailers, are being planned to help returnees travelling along the 60-kilometer
highway between the Macedonian border town of Blace and Pristina.
During a visit on Tuesday, UNHCR located a warehouse in
Urosevac, 30 kilometers south of Pristina, and a food convoy is expected to proceed there
today. UNHCR will open a satellite office in Urosevac – the second of seven planned
in Kosovo – as soon as space is found. An estimated 8,000 displaced people were
located in Urosevac and they told UNHCR that up to 20,000 displaced people were in the
surrounding 15 villages. Many refugees in the FYR of Macedonia originate from Urosevac.
ALBANIA
Thousands of refugees massed at the Morini crossing early
today, hoping to return to Kosovo. Tuesday, around 5,000 refugees crossed Morini, heading
for Prizren in their own or hired vehicles.
With the opening of the border, the traffic has been
two-way, with family members also coming from Prizren to pick up their relatives in Kukes
in northern Albania. There have been emotional family reunions in the camps in Kukes.
This morning, UNHCR staff at Morini report that thousands
of refugees are backed up on the road to the border. UNHCR is taking down basic data of
the refugees as they cross the border. By noontime already around 3,700 refugees had
crossed back into Kosovo.
With the help of NGO partners, UNHCR has set up a medical
post and water supply at the border. UNHCR also is setting up two emergency posts on the
road to Prizren for those in need of assistance, about two kilometers and seven kilometers
from the border.
UNHCR staff were travelling the road to get an idea of
northward flow of refugees. Through Monday, about 2,000 refugees had come back to Kukes
from southern and central Albania.
FYR of MACEDONIA
At least 2,800 refugees returned to Kosovo on Tuesday from
the FYR of Macedonia through the main crossing at Blace. Most of these people had been
staying in host families and had their own vehicles. Returnees were mostly men, but among
them were also elderly and women.
UNHCR staff went up and down the line, passing out mine
awareness information. UNHCR had urged refugees not to rush into Kosovo until the Yugoslav
withdrawal and KFOR deployment was completed.
Early on Tuesday, a man and an elderly woman were killed
in a land mine explosion on the Kosovo side near Blace as they crossed illegally in a
field near the official border post. The woman’s husband was slightly injured. They
apparently wanted to avoid giving up their "green card" – the FYR of
Macedonia registration paper for refugees living outside the camps – and decided to
avoid the official crossing point.
UNHCR had been appealing to the Skopje authorities not to
take away the green cards upon exit and by Tuesday evening, they agreed to this request.
Departing refugees can now retain their cards, on which an exit stamp will be placed.
Meanwhile, UNHCR is working to ensure that all refugees in
camps in FYR of Macedonia have up-to-date registration documents. Around 10,000 people in
Neprosteno and Bojane camps were re-registered Tuesday and received ID papers. Today,
about 20,000 refugees in Stenkovec 1 (Brazda) are to join the exercise.
MONTENEGRO
A total of 638 Serbian civilians from Kosovo entered
Montenegro on Tuesday, bringing the overall Serb arrivals from the province to around
17,500 since 9 June. About half of the number are proceeding to Serbia and the rest are
staying in host families in Montenegro and are being assisted by the Macedonian Red Cross.
UNHCR-IOM HUMANITARIAN EVACUATION PROGRAM
A total of 664 refugees in the FYR of Macedonia departed
on Tuesday under the UNHCR-IOM humanitarian evacuation program. The overall count is now
86,067. Destinations were Germany, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
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Document compiled by Dr S D Stein