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

Kosovo

KOSOVANS: 831,000 DISPLACED 6 Apr. 99 – NATO yesterday said a total of 831,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Kosovo during the last year, out of an estimated population of 1,956,196, reports Reuters. Since NATO began air attacks on Yugoslavia on March 24, almost 400,000 people have fled or have been expelled from Kosovo, said UNHCR yesterday. NATO said 250,000 people are hiding inside Kosovo. UNHCR added that 226,000 have been admitted to Albania and 35,000 to Macedonia, while another 85,000 are waiting to enter Macedonia. It added that 150 have been flown to Turkey. Meanwhile 35,700 have been admitted to the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro. Also 7,900 Kosovans are in Bosnia and 6,000 have been allowed into Turkey, according to UNHCR. [Refugee numbers in Kosovo crisis; – www.reuters.com]

KOSOVANS RECOUNT MASSACRES 6 Apr. 99 – Evidence of massacres in south-west Kosovo appears to be growing after the BBC obtained the first video-taped footage of bodies, reports BBC News. Human Rights Watch and CNN have also interviewed survivors of alleged massacres in Rejovac, near Prizren. Reuters reports Human Rights Watch, quoting six refugee witnesses, said Yugoslav forces shot and killed 40 ethnic Albanian men in Velika Krusa on March 26. The New York Times reports refugees pouring into Albania from Kosovo are providing detailed firsthand accounts of mass killings and burned corpses in villages where Serbs were forcing out ethnic Albanians. Refugees at widely scattered places and times have given overlapping accounts to foreign journalists and relief workers of several mass killings. Meanwhile the Washington Post reports a senior U.S. official said spy satellites have now been tasked to help document village atrocities and the movement of refugees in Kosovo. BBC News adds the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has accused Serb security forces of "shocking violations of human rights" in driving up to 400,000 Kosovo Albanians from their homes. [Annan slates Serb forces + Investigations continue into massacre allegations – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Rights group reports alleged massacre in Kosovo – www.reuters.com; Countless refugee accounts give details of mass killings – www.nytimes.com; Above Inaccessible Areas, Satellites Track Refugees and Atrocities – www.washingtonpost.com]

KOSOVANS: MIXED FEELINGS ABOUT BOMBS 6 Apr. 99 – If the refugees come from a place that was peaceful before the airstrikes began, they are more likely to criticize NATO's action than are those who lived in a town where Yugoslav forces battled the Kosovo Liberation Army, the ethnic Albanian rebel force seeking independence for the province, reports the Washington Post. And there are those refugees who criticize NATO but then are challenged from someone in the back of the crowd. They change their minds. It becomes suddenly clear that there is also a politically correct answer: NATO bombing is good. Many refugees do support NATO's military campaign against Yugoslavia, if for no other reason than revenge has become the only balm for ruined lives. Many refugees do support NATO's military campaign against Yugoslavia, if for no other reason than revenge has become the only balm for ruined lives. Refugees from Malisevo, with its strong rebel links, generally back the bombing. [NATO Air Campaign Stirs Mixed Feelings in Refugees – www.washingtonpost.com]

KOSOVANS: AID GETS MOVING 6 Apr. 99 – The World Food Programme operation to fly supplies to ethnic Albanians driven out of Kosovo gained momentum yesterday, WFP spokeswoman Christiane Berthiaume said, reports AFP. Three C-130 planeloads of supplies were due to leave Italy for Albania later yesterday, while six flights were scheduled for today and 10 more tomorrow, bound for both Albania and Macedonia, Berthiaume said. The United States has given WFP 1.2 million daily ration packets to distribute to the Kosovo refugees, she added. A first aid flight on Sunday delivered 22,000 ration packs, many of which were taken by Albanian and Italian helicopters to the north of Albania where most of the refugees have been arriving. AP reports Pope John Paul II on yesterday urged more government and volunteer aid for the waves of refugees. AFP adds that President Bill Clinton on Saturday deplored the tragedy befalling Kosovan refugees and asked individual Americans to donate emergency supplies for relief efforts. The New York Times reports USAID has established a toll-free telephone number and Internet site to encourage charitable donations to private groups helping the refugees. The International Herald Tribune carries website addresses for UNHCR and others groups most active in helping Kosovan refugees. BBC News reports Britain's leading aid agencies are joining forces to launch a national appeal to help the Kosovans. [World Food Programme air bridge in place to aid Kosovo refugees + Clinton asks US public to donate supplies for Albanian refugees – www.afp.com; Pope urges more volunteer help for Kosovo refugees – www.ap.org; A relief phone line – www.nytimes.com; Major Relief Groups Aiding the Refugees – www.iht.com; Charities launch Kosovo appeal – http://news.bbc.co.uk]

KOSOVANS: SOLUTIONS? 6 Apr. 99 – Western diplomats are discussing plans to send a NATO "escort force" of at least 60,000 troops into Kosovo to protect returning refugees, once air strikes have driven Yugoslav forces out of the region, reports the Financial Times. The Financial Times adds that President Bill Clinton said yesterday "the ethnic cleansing of Kosovo cannot stand as a permanent event" and vowed ethnic Albanians would return. James Rubin, State Department spokesman, said NATO would stick to its goals of getting Serb forces out of Kosovo and returning Albanian refugees under international protection. Reuters reports Britain's Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, has proposed a three-stage plan: The first aim would be to feed and house the refugees on the spot in Macedonia and Albania. While most would stay in the region, some would be moved to other countries on an interim basis, he said. In the third and final stage, Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic would be forced to allow the ethnic Albanians to return to their homes. Meanwhile the Los Angeles Times at Blace reports the refugees, despite the brutality and hardships, almost without exception have retained a fervent determination to go home, and an optimism that NATO will make it happen for them. [Kosovo airlift swings into action + NATO may send 60,000 troops to protect refugees – www.ft.com; Blair says goal is to return refugees to Kosovo – www.reuters.com; Exiled Kosovars Hold Out Hope of Returning to Homeland – www.latimes.com]

KOSOVANS: CREDITS, AID PLEDGED 6 Apr. 99 – The World Bank yesterday said it was preparing a US$40m emergency credit to help Macedonia handle the economic fallout of the Kosovo crisis, reports the Financial Times. The Bank, which funds development projects, also confirmed it was considering a request for balance of payments support to Albania. Both governments have called for support because of the flood of refugees. Meanwhile Reuters reports Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said yesterday Spain had committed US$52 million in humanitarian aid for victims of what he called "barbarous repression" in Kosovo. Reuters also reports Chancellor Viktor Klima said yesterday Austria would provide some US$40m in aid for Kosovo Albanian refugees in Macedonia and Albania and grant 5,000 of them temporary asylum. [World Bank in Macedonia loan – www.ft.com; Spain pledges aid for Kosovo refugees + Austria pledges aid, asylum for Kosovo refugees – www.reuters.com]

ALBANIA: NATO TO PROTECT AID 6 Apr. 99 – NATO decided Saturday to send up to 6,000 Italian troops to Albania to protect the humanitarian operation helping tens of thousands of ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo, reports AP in Brussels. Gen. Wesley Clark, the supreme allied commander in Europe, has been directed to set up a headquarters in Albania to supervise the humanitarian operation and to begin planning for an urgent deployment. "NATO is working in conjunction with the United Nations and other international agencies to take all possible measures to avert or ameliorate these tragic conditions and to assist the governments and people in Macedonia and Albania," Clark said. Clark said the refugee flow is all part of a plan by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to destabilize the Balkans. [NATO decides to send troops to Albania – www.ap.org]

ALBANIA: KOSOVAN EVACUATIONS REFUSED 6 Apr. 99 – The Albanian government is refusing to allow ethnic Albanian refugees fleeing the violence in Kosovo to be evacuated to other countries, the information minister said yesterday, reports AP. "Albania doesn't want to be part of the ethnic cleansing mechanism, which is forcing ethnic Albanians out of Kosovo," said Musa Ulqini. Albanian officials are wary that refugees who will leave the area might not return to the southern Yugoslav province of Kosovo when the conflict is over. Meanwhile the Financial Times reports Albania yesterday confirmed it would accept 100,000 Kosovo refugees from Macedonia after intense pressure from western governments for Tirana to help defuse the political crisis in Skopje. The announcement coincided with western pledges to aid Albania's burden. UNHCR promised US$1.5m a month. It is holding a donors' meeting in Geneva today. [Albania refuses evacuation of Kosovo refugees to other countries – www.ap.org; Tirana agrees to lighten refugee strain – www.ft.com]

ALBANIA: KOSOVANS' CONDITIONS IMPROVE 6 Apr. 99 – The 220,000 Kosovo refugees in Albania were yesterday beginning to see their conditions improve as international aid agencies started to bring their resources to bear on the disaster, reported yesterday's Financial Times. But the operations still face challenges, with 20,000-30,000 refugees a day pouring into the north of the country. Meanwhile UNHCR rejects criticism for delays in supplying aid. Officials said it was impossible to know when and where the Serbs would expel the Albanian Kosovars. The Washington Post yesterday reported the exodus of refugees from Kosovo continued in massive numbers Sunday, as more than 30,000 crossed into Albania in a 24-hour period – including 10,000 who entered by way of a rarely used border crossing and were discovered unexpectedly by Western monitors. Relief workers were not immediately able to bring the refugees to safety from the isolated Qafa e Prushit frontier post, and they were to spend the night there without shelter in "particularly desperate" conditions. UNHCR officials said at least seven children reportedly died of dehydration Saturday. [Aid agencies start to improve conditions – www.ft.com; Desperate Conditions Await Many in Mass Exodus – www.washingtonpost.com]

MACEDONIA: GOV'T 'ENDANGERS' KOSOVANS 6 Apr. 99 – With tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians fleeing Kosovo backed up in dismal conditions at the Macedonian border, international relief officials accused Macedonia yesterday of endangering lives by processing the refugees too slowly, reports the New York Times. UNHCR spokeswoman Paula Ghedini told a news conference in Skopje that Macedonian authorities were only clearing 5,000 refugees, while 65,000 were stuck on a muddy hillside at the border, blocked by Macedonian police and army troops. "That is not enough," Ghedini said. People were now dying at a rate of 10 a day, she said, and "this will increase if we do not get people out from the open." In addition to the 65,000 believed to be stranded at Blace, the main border crossing, another 30,000 people are thought to be on the other side of the border, in Kosovo. BBC News reports UNHCR has appealed to the Macedonian authorities to speed up the process of registering and accepting the tens of thousands of refugees. It has offered to take over processing the queues, saying it can move 20,000 refugees per day. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports Ghedini said four new processing areas for the refugees were under construction but signals from the Macedonian government were still unclear as to whether UNHCR will be allowed to register the refugees. [Macedonian Delays Endanger Refugees, Relief Agencies Say – www.nytimes.com; Kosovo aid frustrated by delays – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Aid workers blame Macedonian authorities for relief delays – www.dpa.com]

MACEDONIA: SOME KOSOVANS MOVED 6 Apr. 99 – Several thousand of the estimated 70,000 Kosovo refugees who have been confined for days in squalid fields at Macedonia's border were bused yesterday to a NATO-built temporary encampment, where they found dry ground, drinking water, hot meals and sympathy from NATO troops, reports the Washington Post. An estimated 5,000 to 6,000 refugees were taken from a fetid pit near the border, where tens of thousands of hungry – and increasingly ill – ethnic Albanians remained. It was unclear how Macedonian police selected those who could leave: Some of the refugees were taken to a destination the Macedonian government declined to reveal. As of last night, a UNHCR official said the group could not account for at least 3,000 refugees, and aid officials who asked not to be identified worried that the refugees might have been expelled into neighbouring Albania. The Guardian reports Clare Short, Britain's International Development Secretary, yesterday intervened to ensure hundreds of Kosovan Albanians were given shelter after being stranded overnight on buses in Macedonia. AFP reports Medecins sans Frontieres yesterday demanded immediate access to some 20,000 Kosovo deportees massed behind barbed wire in an area one kilometre and 300 metres wide on the Macedonian border. [Refugees Find Relief Just a Bus Ride Away – ww.washingtonpost.com ; Tented camps offer glimmer of hope for a chosen few. – www.guardian.co.uk; 20,000 Kosovars trapped in barbed wire in atrocious conditions – www.afp.com]

MONTENEGRO: KOSOVANS MAY FLEE COUP 6 Apr. 99 – Tens of thousands of Kosovan refugees currently in Montenegro may flee into neighbouring Albania and Bosnia amid fears of a coup and civil war, reports the Financial Times. Rumours of an impending coup by the Yugoslav federal army against the government of Milo Djukanovic, Montenegro's president, continued to swirl around Podgorica yesterday. "Everyone – among the internally displaced, refugees from Bosnia and Croatia, our staff, the local population – is feeling uncertain and insecure as to what is next," said Robert Breen, head of UNHCR's office in Podgorica. Meanwhile AP reports Montenegro has asked the United Nations for help in getting international aid for thousands of refugees flooding in from Kosovo. "Montenegro almost has not received any international aid since the beginning of the NATO military action," Montenegro's Foreign Minister Branko Perovic said in a letter to the UN humanitarian chief Sergio Vieira de Mello. [Civil war fears unsettle Montenegro – www.ft.com; Montenegro asks U.N. for help in getting aid for Kosovo refugees – www.ap.org]

ITALY: SOME KOSOVANS ARRIVE 6 Apr. 99 – Italian police yesterday said they had picked up 180 Kosovans in waters off southeast Italy in what was seen as a steady trickle of ethnic Albanians migrants from the southern Serbian province reaching Italy since last week, reports Reuters. Police said the 180 Kosovans, most of whom had reached the coast near the port town of Lecce in rubber dinghies, were in good health and were taken to shelters around the coastal Salento area. Some 65 Kurds who were also picked up by police were transferred to temporary accommodation, while 30 illegal Albanian immigrants were due to be repatriated by the end of the day, police said. AFP reports Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema appealed Sunday to Kosovo Albanian refugees not to disperse through Europe but to stay in Albania in order to discourage ethnic cleansing in their homeland. [Police pick up 180 Kosovans on Italian shores – www.reuters.com; Italian premier appeals to Kosovars not to spread through Europe – www.afp.com]

KOSOVANS: OPINIONS 6 Apr. 99 – We are probably heading towards the worst humanitarian disaster in Europe since the Bosnian war, says Carl Bildt, a former Swedish Prime Minister and international peace envoy to Bosnia, in an op-ed yesterday for the Financial Times. A million refugees during the month to come is a real possibility. The effects will be profoundly destabilising throughout the region. It is now a moral imperative for NATO to launch a ground campaign into Kosovo. There is simply no other way to limit the carnage on the ground and make it possible for the refugees to return home. In the Washington Post, former the US Secretary of State, Warren Christopher says NATO and the United States must prevail unambiguously in Kosovo, using whatever force is necessary. We must act to ensure that all Kosovo refugees return to a safe, secure environment. Such an outcome is not possible unless President Slobodan Milosevic is permanently barred from participating in Kosovo's affairs. Also in the Washington Post, US Senator Bob Dole says immediate objectives should be to remove all Serbian military, paramilitary and police forces from Kosovo and create a safe environment for the Kosovan Albanian population to return and exercise their right to self-government. With proper strategic thinking and U.S. leadership, NATO can make Milosevic's exit its exit strategy. Professor Tom Gallagher in the Guardian says dispersing all or even most of the 1.7 million deportees across the world is impractical. A strong case exists for taking the largest number the short journey to south-eastern Italy. Temporary cities could be built and administered under EU-supervision. [Time to send in troops – www.ft.com; NATO Must Prevail + NATO Should Make Milosevic's Exit Its Exit Strategy – www.washingtonpost.com; No refuge, no future – www.guardian.co.uk]

This document is intended for public information purposes only. It is not an official UN document.