| KOSOVO: PEOPLE URGED TO STAY
19 May 1999 – Displaced ethnic Albanians in northern and western Kosovo and in
Urosevac and Pristina have described an apparent reversal of government strategy: Police
are not expelling them but insisting they stay put, reports the Washington Post.
Belgrade officials say the military campaign in Kosovo was aimed at ethnic Albanian
separatist forces and that the operation is nearly finished. If Belgrade's resettlement
promises are kept, the Kosovo refugees will have been victims not necessarily of
"ethnic cleansing" but of classic anti-guerrilla tactics. In the northern
village of Sajkovac, thousands of displaced ethnic Albanians huddled in abandoned houses,
sheds, a mosque and in open fields. Although evicted from their homes, they have never
been told they must leave Kosovo. Some people said that groups of refugees already had
left for their home villages. BBC News reports many displaced Kosovo Albanian
refugees have settled in other parts of Kosovo, reportedly without harassment from the
Serbian security forces. Meanwhile, in the south the BBC team was unable to find
evidence of the tens of thousands of refugees who NATO alleges are being kept there by the
security forces near Urosevac. [Some Refugees Are Told They Can Return Home – www.washingtonpost.com; The refugees who remained
– http://news.bbc.co.uk] MACEDONIA: LARGE GROUPS ARRIVE, EXPULSIONS 19 May 99 –
A column of 80 tractors carrying between 1,000 and 1,500 Kosovo Albanian men, women and
children abruptly arrived at Blace border crossing last night, aid workers said, reports
the New York Times. Another group of more than 900 refugees crossed the border
earlier in the afternoon. They made up the largest exodus from Kosovo into Macedonia in 10
days. The exhausted refugees say Yugoslav forces have begun a new wave of mass expulsions
in southeastern Kosovo. A UNHCR border monitor, Astrid van Genderen Stort, said she
believed large numbers of refugees could be again headed toward Macedonia. BBC News
reports a fresh wave of Kosovo Albanian refugees arrived in Macedonia overnight, saying
thousands more are behind them. They said Serbian police and paramilitary units had forced
them out of Slatina. Most of the people arriving in Macedonia have spent several weeks on
the move inside Kosovo. Many say they have run out of food and cannot buy supplies. Reuters
adds aid agencies said refugees were now also being driven out by fear of starvation.
[Serbs Open the Border and Expel Kosovars to Macedonia – www.nytimes.com; New wave of refugees in Macedonia
– http://news.bbc.co.uk; Hunger is new threat to
Kosovo Albanians – www.reuters.com]
MACEDONIA: SITUATION STILL 'ALARMING' 19 May 99
– The situation Kosovo refugee situation in Macedonia remains alarming, Macedonia's
Foreign Minister Aleksandar Dimitrov warned yesterday, reports AFP. Dimitrov told a
government news conference in Skopje that the situation of new arrivals and those already
accommodated in Macedonia was "extremely alarming." So far 225,889 Kosovo
refugees have obtained refuge in Macedonia. Some 77,000 of them are in refugee camps and
the others are with host families, according to Macedonian government figures. A total
57,150 refugees have left Macedonia by plane, they say. Meanwhile CNN reports the
number of Kosovo refugees evacuated from Macedonia to third countries topped the 50,000
mark yesterday, when 1,400 ethnic Albanians left for Turkey and Canada. [Kosovo refugee
situation remains alarming, Macedonia says – www.afp.com;
Refugees allege abuse by Serb police – http://cnn.com]
ALBANIA: NOONE CROSSES BORDER 19 May 99 – No
refugees crossed into Albania yesterday as of late afternoon and in the past six days,
fewer than 100 have reached the Morini border post, reports AP. International
officials are unsure why. "We don't know why the refugees have stopped coming,"
said Adrian Musat, who heads OSCE's Kukes office. "But based on what other refugees
have told us, we think the Serbs are probably stopping them." Some recently arrived
refugees have said that thousands more were behind them, but they've yet to arrive at the
border. [No refugees cross from Kosovo to Albania, monitors unsure why – www.ap.org]
ALBANIA: BLAIR VOWS RETURNS SUCCESS 19 May 1999
– The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has assured ethnic Albanian refugees from
Kosovo that the NATO campaign to return them to their homes will be successful, reports BBC
News. Speaking at Elbasan refugee camp in Albania, he said his message was simple:
those who had been forced out of Kosovo must be allowed to return, to live in peace and
security. He was greeted with chants of "NATO, NATO" and outstretched hands as
he walked through the camp. The Daily Telegraph reports Blair was given a
first-hand account by a frail 72-year-old Kosovan refugee of how he was robbed, forced to
strip naked by Serb paramilitaries and then hit with rifle-butts and kicked because he did
not undress quickly enough. Reuters quotes Blair as telling refugees: "When I
see these children I know why we are taking this action [the bombing campaign]. . . They
are the future of Kosovo and they should have the same future as we have in Western Europe
for our children." The Guardian and the Independent also report. [Blair
makes commitment to Kosovo refugees – http://news.bbc.co.uk;
PM hears tale of 72-year-old beaten by Serbs – www.telegraph.co.uk;
Blair visits Kosovo refugee camp in Albania – www.reuters.com;
Hero's welcome for 'Tony' – www.guardian.co.uk;
Blair pins his colours to cause of refugees – www.independent.co.uk]
MONTENEGRO: ALBANIAN BORDER CLOSED 19 May 1999
– Yugoslav authorities have closed the only border crossing point between Albania and
Montenegro, the state-run Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) said yesterday, reports
Deutsche Presse-Agentur. About 50,000 Kosovo refugees have crossed from Montenegro
to Albania through the border point at Hani i Hotit since the refugee crisis began in
March. The crossing was closed on Sunday and it has not yet been reopened, ATA reported.
No official reason has been given for the closure. [Albanian-Montenegrin border crossing
closed – www.dpa.com]
KOSOVANS: UNHCR LEADERSHIP NEEDED, SAYS OXFAM 19
May 99 – Oxfam warned yesterday that relief efforts were in danger of failing
refugees from Kosovo because they were not being properly coordinated, reports Reuters.
It said there was an urgent need for a more coherent response by UNHCR, aid agencies,
donor governments, Macedonia and Albania. UNHCR should take a more robust leadership role
as donor governments were setting up camps independently, camps in Macedonia were under
great strain and in Albania, some refugees were camping out on roads as camps were full,
Oxfam said. "It is imperative for the success of the aid effort that UNHCR is
genuinely the lead agency and able to function efficiently," Oxfam said. BBC News
reports Oxfam said refugees were living in far worse conditions than they should be, given
the resources available. The Guardian reports Oxfam yesterday joined the mounting
chorus criticising UNHCR's lack of coordination and leadership. A UNHCR spokeswoman,
Lyndall Sachs, said the problems in Macedonia were a result of the government not allowing
UNHCR to build more camps. "If we had the support of governments of our member states
we would have more leverage over the Macedonian government and more power to achieve what
we want to do." The Independent also reports. [Oxfam warns of cracks in Kosovo
refugee effort – www.reuters.com; Kosovo relief
effort criticised – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Oxfam
hits at UN agency – www.guardian.co.uk;
Briefing: Day 56 – www.independent.co.uk]
KOSOVANS: US PLEDGES $15m 19 May 1999 – Just
back from a weekend tour of refugee camps in Macedonia, US first lady Hillary Clinton
yesterday announced an extra US$15m in US aid for ethnic Albanians who fled Kosovo,
reports AFP. That amount brings to more than US$200m the total already promised by
the United States, Clinton said at a White House ceremony. Part of the money – to be
administered by United Nation's humanitarian agencies, the International Red Cross and
NGOs – will go towards Kosovan refugees in the United States, she said. [Hillary
Clinton announces more US aid for Kosovo refugees – www.afp.com]
KOSOVANS: BELGRADE SIGNALS DEAL? 19 May 99 –
Allied jets have continued to pound Serbian targets despite a flurry of diplomacy and
signals that Yugoslavia it is ready for a deal with NATO on Kosovo, reports AP. A
Yugoslav Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday Belgrade is ready "to cut a
deal" to end the NATO campaign as long as the country's "territorial
integrity" is preserved, meaning no independence for Kosovo. NATO is demanding
President Slobodan Milosevic withdraws troops and special police from Kosovo, permit the
return of refugees and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force and that he
discuss Kosovo's political future. Reuters adds British Defence Secretary George
Robertson yesterday said: "Ground troops have always been and will always be part of
the endgame because they will be required in substantial numbers to get the refugees back
into Kosovo." Reuters also reports Serbian opposition leader Zoran Djindjic
has said a NATO ground attack against Yugoslavia would be a disaster, killing far more
civilians. He added there was still a chance Milosevic could strike a deal with NATO to
allow Kosovo refugees to return under some kind of international protection. [NATO
continues strikes as Yugoslavia says it's ready for a deal – www.ap.org; Ground troops "always part of endgame,"
Robertson + Opposition Serb sees ground attack as "disaster" – www.reuters.com]
KOSOVANS: BOSNIAN LESSONS 19 May 99 – Western
aid organisations, seeking a long-term answer to the refugee crisis caused by the war in
Kosovo, have been looking to Bosnia for possible solutions, reports BBC News. It is
the intention of the international community that all displaced people from the Bosnian
war should eventually be able to return to their original towns and villages. But very few
have so far done so. The more time that passes, the less likely it is that people will
wish to go back. Temporary solutions become permanent. In some ways, the return of
Albanian refugees to their homes in Kosovo will be easier. Since about 90% of the
population was Albanian in the first place, they will not be in a minority in a
Serb-dominated region. But Western officials nevertheless believe it will be essential to
get them home as quickly as possible when the fighting ends. NATO is considering a plan to
return 700,000 Albanians to their homes in just one month, as soon as there is peace. The
plan envisages refugees taking their tents with them from camps in Macedonia or Albania
and setting them up in their home villages. This might keep communities intact, enable
farm work to be done and re-building to commence. The alternative would be to see more and
more refugees drifting abroad, consolidating ethnic cleansing. [Lessons from Bosnia –
http://news.bbc.co.uk]
KOSOVANS: SAFE HAVENS NO SOLUTION 19 May 99 –
At least 700,000 people are displaced inside Kosovo. These are the most vulnerable, says
Bill Frelick, policy analyst for the US Committee for Refugees, in an op-ed for the Christian
Science Monitor. They are hungry and hiding from Serb forces intent on finding and
expelling them, or worse. Some observers have called for the creation of a safe zone
inside Kosovo, where they could seek food and shelter. Safe areas are not the answer. Safe
areas have failed during the major mass refugee exoduses in northern Iraq; eastern Bosnia; and southwestern Rwanda. They have compromised the
right of people fleeing persecution to seek asylum outside their countries and endangered
the very lives of the people whose safety they were to protect. It is hard to imagine a
safe zone in Kosovo that would meet Geneva Convention standards of neutral zones
established by agreement of the conflicting parties. The answer is not in the hands of the
humanitarians. Force must be met by force. NATO needs to draw a clear line that no haven
has broached: independence. The ultimate contradiction and danger of safe areas is that
they lure frightened people into places where the international community continues to
recognise the sovereignty of their persecutors. The line separating Serb police from
Kosovans must be clear, enforceable, and international. [Safe zones not an answer for
Kosovars – www.csmonitor.com]
KOSOVO NOTES 19 May 1999 – AFP reports
a South African company yesterday said it was producing 41,500 wind-up, battery-less
radios to send to the Balkans to help displaced Kosovans re-establish contact with their
families. AFP reports European Union culture ministers yesterday said they would
coordinate action to help refugees from the Kosovo crisis, at an informal meeting in
Weimar in eastern Germany. Xinhua reports the number of Kosovan refugees in Turkey
has reached 16,240 since NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia on March 24. AP
reports China yesterday accused NATO of creating the world's worst humanitarian disaster
in 50 years, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhu Bangzao saying NATO airstrikes have killed
1,200 civilians and left 600,000 people homeless.
This document is intended for public information
purposes only. It is not an official UN document. |
Document compiled by Dr S D Stein