A digest of the latest refugee news,
as reported by the world's media.  

KOSOVO: 400,000 IN MOUNTAINS, FORESTS? 12 Apr. 99 – With Yugoslavian forces allegedly suppressing the exodus of ethnic Albanians, hundreds of thousands of Kosovans have fled into the woods and the flow of refugees leaving Kosovo has dropped to a trickle, NATO and UN officials said yesterday, reports CNN. As many as 400,000 displaced ethnic Albanians may be hiding in Kosovo's mountains and forests, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said, citing an official of the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army. He said the refugees are hiding from Serb-led Yugoslav forces "who would otherwise kill or deport them." "In his words, they lack the basic elements of life and are particularly short of food," Cook said. UNHCR yesterday said fewer than 7,000 ethnic Albanians fled Kosovo into Albania and Montenegro during the past day. BBC News adds that staff from Britain's Department for International Development said some refugee camps in Macedonia were almost devoid of men. AFP reports NATO spokesman Jamie Shea on Saturday said more than 200,000 people have been displaced within Kosovo in conditions causing increasing concern. Most were believed to be scattered in three regions: around Podujevo in the north, in the central Drenica region and in the Pagarusa valley in the south. [Refugee flow slowing as more said to be hiding in Kosovo – http://cnn.com; Refugees trapped in Kosovo – http://news.bbc.co.uk; More than 200,000 displaced within Kosovo: NATO – www.afp.com]

KOSOVO: NATO CAN'T LOCATE THOUSANDS 12 Apr. 99 – NATO said Friday that its sophisticated military surveillance had not yet been able to solve the mystery of what happened to tens of thousands of ethnic Albanian civilians who had been stuck at border crossing points in Albania and Macedonia, reports the International Herald Tribune. "A key question is what is happening to the people who were trying to leave," said NATO spokesman Jamie Shea, referring in particular to people whose cars had been lined up 20 km inside Kosovo near the Albanian border before vanishing overnight Tuesday. "We have received reports from the few people who have come through that all along the road behind the border the cars and wagons and tractors are just abandoned, with luggage and food left behind and nobody visible on the road," UNHCR spokeswoman Judith Kumin said. A senior diplomat said NATO civilian authorities had asked the military command Thursday to intensify reconnaissance over Kosovo to try to locate the missing civilians. But a NATO military spokesman said Friday that allied intelligence had been concentrating mostly on finding tanks and armoured vehicles. [At the Border, a Worrisome Mystery – www.iht.com]

KOSOVANS: UNHCR PREFERS LOCAL AID TO AIRLIFT 12 Apr. 99 – UNHCR said on Saturday it was trying to help as many Kosovo refugees as possible to stay in the region rather than be airlifted to countries remote from their homes, reports Reuters. But spokesman Paul Stromberg said UNHCR was asking governments which had offered to help fly ethnic Albanians from Kosovo to temporary shelter elsewhere to stand by in case their assistance was needed. "We have always said that flying people out was a last resort. We prefer to help them on the spot," he said. Stromberg said the situation on the ground in countries bordering Kosovo had changed since the idea of a mass airlift was first raised two weeks ago. Reuters adds UNHCR chief Sadako Ogata on Friday reportedly gave NATO governments a clear signal to hold off their plans for mass airlift of Kosovo Albanians to the West. [UNHCR says aiming help Kosovo refugees in region + UNHCR puts Kosovo airlifts on hold – www.reuters.com]

KOSOVANS: AIRLIFT PROCEEDS 12 Apr. 99 – More than 700 Kosovo refugees have been flown to Turkey in the past two days, raising the total number of displaced people from the embattled province in Turkey to about 8,650, officials said Saturday, reports AP. Four planes carrying 574 refugees arrived late Friday, said Musa Gunvecan, director of the Gazi Osman Pasa refugee camp. Reuters reports hundreds more Kosovo Albanian refugees were flown to shelter in Germany on Saturday as authorities there said they were unaware of reports the United Nations had called for such airlift operations to be halted. Some 220 refugees, among them many small children, flew into Dresden from Macedonia. Several hundred more were flown into other airports around Germany. An Interior Ministry spokeswoman said Germany expected by today to have taken in around 5,000 refugees. Reuters adds that Poland on Saturday welcomed 60 of several thousand Kosovan Albanian refugees it has pledged to house until the conflict is over. [Some 700 additional Kosovo refugees arrive in Turkey – www.ap.org; Germany continues Kosovo refugee airlift + Poland welcomes airlifted Kosovo refugees – www.reuters.com]

ALBANIA: MORE EXPELLED KOSOVANS 12 Apr. 99 – Some 4,200 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo crossed into northern Albania through the Morina border post late Saturday in the second such crossing in successive nights, an OSCE spokesman said yesterday, reports AFP. He said 1,500 refugees from a village in the same area had arrived in Albania on Friday night. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports UNHCR confirmed more than 4,000 new refugees crossed the border into Albania late Saturday and early Sunday. "This is classical ethnic cleansing without the use of violence – all very organised," said UNHCR spokeswoman Judith Kumin. Reuters reports several thousand Kosovo refugees streamed into northern Albania on Saturday night after Yugoslavia reopened its main border crossing and carried out another wave of expulsions. The latest deportees appeared to be victims of a Serb policy of selective expulsion rather than the start of a new flood. The Los Angeles Times reports Yugoslav forces reopened their border Saturday and allowed the exit from Kosovo of thousands of refugees; their sad, broken-down wagons stuffed with exhausted, careworn people wondering where they would find shelter. They brought with them fresh tales of violence, theft and destruction. [Around 4,200 Kosovo refugees enter Albania – www.afp.com; UNHCR confirms 4,000 new refugees cross into Albania – www.dpa.com; Thousands more pour into Albania from Kosovo – www.reuters.com; New Wave of Kosovo Refugees Crosses Border – www.latimes.com]

ALBANIA: NATO HUMANITARIAN MISSION 12 Apr. 99 – NATO countries yesterday approved plans for a humanitarian mission to Albania to help Kosovan refugees displaced by Serbian forces. The mission will involve 8,000 allied troops, including Americans, reports the International Herald Tribune. Albania announced it was turning over control of its airports and ports, including military facilities, to the alliance for this purpose. The relief operation, the first purely humanitarian venture undertaken by NATO in its 50-year history, was part of an international bid to help Albania cope with 300,000 ethnic Albanians. Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times reports thousands of young Kosovo Albanian refugees have been flocking to join the ranks of the KLA. Young men and women, outraged at acts committed against their families in Kosovo and hungry for vengeance, line up daily outside a KLA recruiting centre in Kukes, northern Albania. [NATO Sending 8,000 to Aid Refugees – www.iht.com; KLA Numbers Swell in Response to Serbian Aggression – www.latimes.com]

ALBANIA: NEW AID SOUGHT 12 Apr. 99 – The International Monetary Fund said on Saturday it was exploring ways to provide new assistance to Albania as it struggles to cope with the influx of some 300,000 ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo , reports Reuters. In a letter to Prime Minister Pandeli Majko, IMF Managing Director Michel Camdessus pledged his personal commitment to providing Albania with the maximum support the IMF can mobilise, in cooperation with the World Bank, EU and other donors. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports Albanian Prime Minister Pandeli Majko appealed to Germany on Saturday to increase its aid for Kosovo refugees in Albania. [IMF pledges to help Albania cope with Kosovo – www.reuters.com; Albania calls on Germany to increase aid for Kosovo refugees – www.dpa.com]

MACEDONIA: KOSOVANS EXPECTED AS BORDER CLOSED 12 Apr. 99 – Yugoslavian authorities closed the border with Macedonia on Sunday, UN aid workers said, raising concerns that many Kosovo refugees may have fled to the hills and forests without food, reports AFP. "Many want to get through," said UNHCR's Paula Ghedini. "They are in hiding in the forests and mountains near Urosevac and Orahovac . . . We are sure that the situation is serious for them because they don't have food," she said. Meanwhile the Guardian reports humanitarian aid officials fear Slobodan Milosevic may be planning to dump a second wave of 'ethnically cleansed' refugees on to the border with Macedonia in a bid to provoke renewed disarray among his enemies. Additional capacity was yesterday being created at the made at Brazda and Stankovic camps north of Skopje, specifically to ensure that the Macedonian government and the relief agencies would not be caught by surprise again. An OSCE source said the biggest concern was that Serbian authorities could switch tactics and herd refugees to the frontier north-east of Skopje. The border crossings at Tabanovce and Pelince would funnel the ethnic Albanian refugees into Kumanovo, where a large part of the country's ethnic Serb population is concentrated. [Yugoslavia closes border with Macedonia – www.afp.com; Fears Of Refugee Dumping – www.guardian.co.uk

MACEDONIA: SOME KOSOVANS ARRIVE 12 Apr. 99 – Some 280 Kosovan refugees arrived in Macedonia on Saturday, said UNHCR in Geneva yesterday, reports AFP. Many of those who crossed the border came from Urosevac, south of Pristina, UNHCR spokeswoman Maki Shinohara said. AP reports ethnic Albanians reaching safety in Macedonia over mountain passes have told of horrors along the route: Burned villages. Corpses. Trapped, terrorised refugees. Reuters reports a handful of ethnic Albanian refugees who sneaked into Macedonia on Saturday said they walked through forests for days and skirted minefields in Kosovo. Reuters adds that a woman and her child froze to death while crossing from Kosovo into Macedonia, according to state TV. [Macedonia, Albania seen new refugee arrivals: UNHCR – www.afp.com; Terrorized refugees make way through mountain passes to safety – www.ap.org; Refugees brave minefields to reach Macedonia + Macedonia prays for Kosovo peace on Easter – www.reuters.com]

MACEDONIA: UNHCR'S AID LIMITED 12 Apr. 99 – UNHCR plans to progressively take over running Kosovan refugee camps in Macedonia from NATO, leaving NATO in charge of their protection, reports Le Monde. UNHCR has been unable to set up an aid operation to meets the needs of the situation. Opposition from Russia and China are reported to have weighed heavily against it. Diplomatic sources say UNHCR chief Sadako Ogata had no option but to contact NATO last week for its help. MSF on Friday protested strongly against the situation in Macedonia. "The minimum standards of assistance and protection have been ignored in the case of the Kosovan refugees," it said in a statement. Ogata, in Skopje, promised to remedy this, adding that she had received guarantees that the border would no longer be closed to refugees. AFP adds MSF urged Ogata "to make protection of all refugees from Kosovo the responsibility of the UNHCR." AFP also warned NATO not to mix its combat role in Kosovo with relief efforts for refugees. "NATO militaries and member states should not be running, or be seen to be running refugee camps . . . If this perception exists, camps cannot be seen as neutral humanitarian zones and may be at security risk in the future," said MSF. [UNHCR's aid to displaced people remains limited by Skopje – www.lemonde.fr; Medecins sans Frontieres attacks lack of care for Kosovars + Relief group warns NATO not to mix war, aid efforts – www.afp.com]

MACEDONIA: MORE AID WANTED 12 Apr. 99 – The president of the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia said yesterday that despite US and European Union aid over the influx of Kosovo ethnic Albanian refugees, his country needed more help, including debt relief. The Los Angeles Times reports Macedonia has remained stable although there have been intense, ongoing, nonviolent struggles between Albanians and Macedonians over the refugee crisis even at the highest levels of the government. Arber Xhaferi, leader of the Democratic Party of Albanians, which has five ministers in the government, said the Albanian ministers were excluded from important decisions during the crisis, such as closing the border and keeping the refugees stranded there for days. The Macedonian authorities' treatment of the Kosovo Albanian refugees, Xhaferi said, reflects their "irrational panic and xenophobia" about a shift in the demographics of Macedonia, but it may have a long-term impact on ethnic relations. However, some experts believe that Macedonians' fear that the refugees will cause a population shift is not irrational. [Macedonia seeks Western aid over refugee crisis – www.reuters.com; Macedonia Squirms Atop A Global Hot Seat – www.latimes.com]

MONTENEGRO: MORE KOSOVANS ARRIVE 12 Apr. 99 – More than 2,000 ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosovo reached Montenegro yesterday, bringing the number of refugees who have arrived in the small republic to around 43,000 since March 24, reports Reuters. A UNHCR spokesman said that between midnight and 3:00 p.m. some 1,300 refugees had been logged arriving. Correspondents in the border area said hundreds more people arrived later in the afternoon, walking across snow-covered mountains to safety. The refugees said they had hidden for days in woods in eastern Kosovo before making a dash for neighbouring Montenegro. [More than 2,000 refugees reach Montenegro on Sunday – www.reuters.com]

SWITZERLAND: SUPPORT FOR KOSOVANS 12 Apr. 99 – The Swiss public donated some US$8.4m during a one-day fund-raising drive for Kosovo refugees, organisers said Saturday, reports AP. The money from Friday's national appeal will be used by Swiss charities to buy food, blankets and medical equipment and to pay for psychological counselling for traumatised women and children. Switzerland is home to 200,000 Kosovo Albanians, including 50,000 asylum seekers who left the country before the current mass exodus. Meanwhile AFP reports the Swiss Red Cross said yesterday it set up a 24-hour emergency telephone hotline to provide direct help to Kosovan refugees. Specialists will route offers of assistance where it is needed, whether for money, lodging, food or translation, it said. The Swiss Red Cross is also offering counselling help to victims of torture on the same number: 01-655-1206. [Swiss raise dlrs 8.4 million, bring 13 Kosovars to family members – www.ap.org; Swiss Red Cross sets up 24-hour hotline to help Kosovar refugees – www.afp.org]

YUGOSLAVIA: AID WORKER 'SPY' 12 Apr. 99 – Yugoslavia yesterday publicly accused an Australian CARE aid worker of spying for NATO, reports AP. State-run Serb TV said Steve Pratt, seized on March 31 by Yugoslav authorities together with CARE Australia colleague Peter Wallace on the Croatian border, was charged with collecting intelligence data on the movements of Yugoslav military and police units before NATO's air raids and the "evaluation of the effects of the NATO bombings." Pratt was shown on TV allegedly confessing and saying he was sorry. It was not known whether he made the statement under duress. The pair were travelling in separate cars, which carried United Nations markings. Pratt, 49, and Wallace, 30, had been working with Serbian refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Slovenia in Yugoslavia and with displaced ethnic Albanians and Serbs in Kosovo. They were being deployed from Belgrade to help with the humanitarian crisis in Montenegro, where Kosovo Albanian refugees were pouring in. [Australian CARE worker accused of spying – www.ap.org]

KOSOVANS: SAFE HAVENS SOLUTION 12 Apr. 99 – As hundreds of thousands of Kosovans take refuge in neighbouring countries, or find themselves turned back at the border, we should remember that we faced this situation before in northern Iraq in 1991. And the solution then was clear and unavoidable: to create a safe haven within the refugees' own country, says Princeton Lyman, former director of the US State Department's refugee programmes, in an op-ed for the Washington Post. A protected area was created. The Kurds returned home in a matter of weeks, and the refugee crisis, as well as the political one for Turkey, was resolved. After a few months, the Kurds established autonomous control over this area, and US troops were able to depart. The answer lies clearly in making a safe space within Kosovo, and in doing so now, not waiting until Slobodan Milosevic agrees. If the safe area is only part of the country, shelter and other support structures will have to be built at much greater cost and over a longer period of time. The risk of confrontation with Serbian forces will exist. But the alternative is a humanitarian disaster, threatening not only the support for this war, but the stability of the entire area. In making an area safe for refugees within their own country, and for the humanitarian relief required, we put Milosevic on notice that our action is a direct consequence of his and that we will not let him destroy these people or destabilise his neighbours. [Make a Haven at Home for the Refugees – www.washingtonpost.com]

KOSOVO NOTES 12 Apr. 99 – Reuters in Albania reports Kosovan refugees are throwing away US-donated humanitarian rations by the thousands and have even burned some to keep warm, complaining that the food is inedible and has made people sick. Reuters reports international television networks and relief officials joined forces yesterday in the search for the Kosovo parents of a lost baby girl who wandered alone for two days in a squalid refugee camp in Albania. Liberation reports over 350,000 people in France have offered to take in Kosovan refugees, surprising voluntary groups.

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