BELGRADE, June 16 (Itar-Tass) - Some 80,000 Kosovo Serbs have left their homes since the beginning of the withdrawal of the Yugoslav army and police from the region, because KFOR does not guarantee their safety. The figures were made public at a press conference in Belgrade by Mirko Jaksic, head of the regional branch of the Democratic Party of Serbia in Kosovo.

According to Jaksic, about all the Serbs left Metohija, which boasts numerous monuments of Serb culture and Orthodox Christianity, hundreds of monasteries and churches, left since the Medieval times. The situation is a little better in the northern part of the region, because part of the refugees from the southern and south-eastern communities settled there, hoping for better times. Jaksic urged the Yugoslav authorities and the world community to take measures immediately for stopping the forced resettlement of the Serb population, which is acquiring the character of a chain reaction. According to the information of the International Red Cross Committee, about 33,000 people left Kosov over the past week. 24,000 of them moved to Serbia, and the rest to Montenegro.

According to reports of witnesses, roads in the southern part of Serbia continue to be flooded with tractors and trailers with household belongings. People cannot take with them the main assets -- houses and cattle, and have to leave them behind. They are guarded by the elders of the family, who refused to leave their homes and evacuate. Not only Serbs, but also Gipsies, Moslems and Albanians loyal to the authorities are also going north, fearing repressions of Albanian extremists from the "Kosovo liberation army."

As a rule, refugees are not willing to talk with journalists, and if an attempt is made to film them, they may put their assault rifle in a combat position. Some men carry weapons. They had to repulse attacks of KLA gunmen both during the NATO aggression and on the way across Albanian villages. People are embitters and are cursing everybody, starting from the Yugoslav government and its allies, including Russia, which failed to prevent their exodus from Kosovo. About 2,000 refugees from the Suva Reka community, situated on the border with Albania, came to Belgrade, which created additional difficulties of the socio-economic and criminal character. The Yugoslav capital lived through similar situations twice, when it was flooded with thousands of refugees from Croatia and Sarajevo, including those who had arms.

The root causes of the exodus of Serbs, which for some reason is not described as a humanitarian catastrophe, could be discussed for hours. The simplest explanation -- the incompatibility of the two nations -- is refuted by the refugees themselves. They continued to live side by side with their Albanian neighbours until recently, until KLA gunmen came from the highland areas and from abroad. It is obvious that the U.S. and NATO leaders are unwilling to have the illegal "army" disarmed, as is stipulated by the resolution of the U.N. Security Council. Various statements come from Washington and other Western capitals about the "demilitarisation" of KLA, about its turning into a political organisation or its partial disarmament.

KFOR contingents from different countries act in different ways. The French prevented a 200-men-strong group of armed Albanians from entering Gnjilane. The British commandos blocked 50 KLA gunmen in a house in Pristina on Tuesday, after they refused to surrender. Confrontation lasted for several hours, after which the order came about the withdrawal of the British soldiers. According to press reports, KLA men feel most comfortable in Prizren, which is part of the responsibility zone of the German contingent. It is this zone that German Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping suggests sharing with Russians.