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

KOSOVO: SERB EXODUS GROWS, WITH GYPSIES 15 Jun. 99 – More than 11,000 Serbs have fled Kosovo since last week's peace deal between Yugoslav forces and NATO, the International Committee of the Red Cross said yesterday, reports the Independent. ICRC said about 10,000 Serbian civilians had fled into Serbia since Friday and another 1,000 had moved into Montenegro. Some UNHCR officials believe the true figure is closer to 15,000. Most of the Serbs appear to have come from Prizren, Djakovica and Urosevac, where Yugoslav forces have already withdrawn. The leader of a Serb political party in Kosovo said he believed at least 30,000 Serbs were now on the move fearing revenge by returning Albanians and armed KLA fighters. AFP adds a rising number of gypsy families were fleeing Kosovo yesterday, with 288 gypsies crossing into Montenegro at Carine, officials said. BBC News reports thousands of Serb civilians are fleeing despite NATO protection assurances. The Financial Times reports UNHCR special envoy Dennis McNamara warned that aid agencies cannot operate successfully without better protection. "The pre-condition is security, security, security," he said, adding: "We don't want to bring back 750,000 refugees in order to have another 150,000 or 200,000 leave." [Liberation of Kosovo – 11,000 Serbs fled in a week – www.independent.co.uk ; Serbs flee Kosovo in fear – http://news.bbc.co.uk ; More than 13,000 Serbs, others flee Kosovo for Montenegro – www.afp.com ; Thousands of Serbs flee in fear – www.ft.com]

KOSOVO: KLA 'EXECUTES' SERBS 15 Jun. 99 – Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) guerrillas pulled three Serb men out of a refugee column near Pristina and executed them on the spot on last night, the independent Serbian news agency Beta said, reports Reuters. Beta, quoting eyewitnesses, said six KLA gunmen intercepted a column of Serbs leaving the village of Kojlovica, north of Pristina, at around 6 pm. [Kosovo guerrillas execute three Serbs-Beta agency – www.reuters.com ]

KOSOVO: UN HELPS DISPLACED THOUSANDS 15 Jun. 99 – A UN convoy rushed aid yesterday to nearly 20,000 ethnic Albanians discovered hiding in wooded hills west of Pristina, ending weeks of fear and hunger, reports Reuters. A UNHCR spokesman said the mission was the first aid convoy to venture into the countryside. It was also the first group of internally displaced persons to be found. A small advance UN team found the displaced people living in the open at Glogovac. A number of them were malnourished and in poor health from living in the open for much of the NATO bombing campaign. Dennis McNamara, UNHCR's special envoy, accompanied the aid convoy. CNN reports a flood of about 25,000 displaced people came down from the hills yesterday as the UN convoy arrived. The International Herald Tribune reports the ethnic Albanians emerged from weeks in hiding and thousands were reportedly found in urgent need of food. The Times reports Staffan de Mistura, the convoy leader, said 90% of the refugees were women and children, and that Glogovac lies within a "grey" area, not yet vacated by Yugoslav forces. The Independent adds de Mistura said about 18,500 "internally displaced persons" were at Glogovac. Meanwhile the Washington Post reports there are still unknown numbers of people hiding in the high hills of central Kosovo, too broken by the war to come out. [UN finds 20,000 displaced Albanians – www.reuters.com; Kosovars surge toward home as UN relief arrives – http://cnn.com; 20,000 Kosovars Emerge From Hills – www.iht.com; Victims weep as first food convoy arrives – www.the-times.co.uk ; Terrified and starving, 174 people hid in a small house – www.independent.co.uk ; In the Hills, Scraping to Survive; Some Refugees Come Down, Others Stay in Mountain Hideouts – www.washingtonpost.com ]

ALBANIA: HUNDREDS RETURN IN 'MINI-NIGHTMARE' 15 Jun. 99 – Ignoring warnings about land mines and armed Yugoslav troops, several hundred returning refugees slipped back through the closed border into Kosovo yesterday by taking a dangerous path on a wooded mountainside amid periodic gunfire, reports the New York Times. Aid organisations speculated that the gunfire came from members of the Kosovo Liberation Army, to warn refugees not to go back for their own safety. UNHCR spokesman Rupert Colville called it a "mini-nightmare" because of the danger of land mines and, at least until midday, hundreds of armed Yugoslav troops a few miles inside the Kosovo border. The border opened chaotically Sunday for the first time. Refugees were kept from re-entering by the German NATO forces. A number of refugees got in during the confusion, but more than 200 refugees, mostly men wanting to check on their houses and families, were held back. Aid workers say the mood got increasingly ugly until late in the day, when rebel fighters effectively pushed the refugees back. But in a repeat of what happened on Sunday, more than 200 refugees yesterday headed up a hillside path that crosses over into Kosovo, in partial sight of the Germans, the rebels and the Albanians. UNHCR estimated their number at "several hundred" over the course of the day. Reuters reports KLA guerrillas yesterday were turning back refugees trying to return home. [Warnings Are Ignored as Refugees Return Home – www.nytimes.com ; KLA, manning Albania border, turns back refugees – www.reuters.com ]

ALBANIA: MOST WAIT TO RETURN – NATO 15 Jun. 99 – Most of the half a million Kosovo refugees in Albania are waiting for a green light from NATO before trying to go home and there has been no mass rush across the border, a NATO spokesman in Albania said yesterday, reports Reuters. "The Kosovars are actually being very sensible and very wise to the situation that is in Kosovo," Lieutenant-Colonel Andrew Williams, a NATO spokesman said. Williams said the majority of refugees were well aware that they faced "untold dangers" from mines, unexploded shells and bombs, and collapsing houses if they went home now. "The real message that we're getting is that they are waiting, they are waiting for NATO to tell them to go home, and I hear this daily," he said. He said a repatriation programme agreed by NATO, the Tirana government and UNHCR that would allow refugees to go home "in an orderly fashion" should "come on line very, very shortly" but did not say exactly when this would be. [Most refugees in Albania wait for NATO green light – www.reuters.com ]

ALBANIA: MEMORABLE SOLIDARITY? 15 Jun. 99 – Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder yesterday thanked Albanian President Rexhep Meidani for his country's support through the acceptance of hundreds of thousands of refugees from Kosovo, reports AP. The solidarity shown by Albania will not be forgotten in regard to that nation's aspirations for closer ties to the European Union, Schroeder said. Meanwhile AFP reports the IMF yesterday announced a US$30m Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility for Albania, saying it recognised the flood of Kosovar refugees had placed enormous strain on it but that "with sufficient external support, the crisis need not derail Albania's recovery." [German chancellor thanks Albanian president for support in Kosovo crisis – www.ap.org; IMF approves 30 million dollars for Albania – www.afp.com ]

MACEDONIA: HUNDREDS RETURN, IGNORE ADVICE 15 Jun. 99 – Several hundred ethnic Albanian refugees left Macedonia yesterday to return home to Kosovo as NATO troops pushed ahead with their deployment in Kosovo, reports AFP. At least 480 refugees crossed the Blace border point, north of Skopje, and several hundred others took a route to the west near Tabanovce, according to Macedonian television. "We are grateful for the welcome Macedonia has given us but now that NATO is in Kosovo, we feel safe and are returning," said one refugee. Reuters reports hundreds of ethnic Albanian refugees, ignoring the advice of international aid workers, crossed the border from Macedonia into Kosovo heading for home yesterday. A number of UNHCR officials went to the border to try to stem the exodus, warning the travellers that the territory was still dangerous. "The road is just not safe enough," one official told a group of passing refugees. They shrugged off the advice. [Hundreds of refugees return to Kosovo – www.afp.com ; Kosovo refugees ignore advice, leave Macedonia – www.reuters.com ]

MACEDONIA: WANTING TO RETURN, MOST WAIT 15 Jun. 99 – Two thirds of the Kosovo refugees in teeming camps in Macedonia want to go home in the next week but international aid workers, fearing a chaotic mass return, want them to wait until it is safe to do so, reports Reuters. And despite the findings of the poll by the International Organisation for Migration, the UN yesterday said that few refugees had gone back since the peace accord. The IOM poll of nearly 400 refugees in the camps of Blace and Stankovic in Macedonia said over 90% of the refugees surveyed were ready to wait a little before returning to Kosovo. But asked how long they were prepared to wait, 63% said less than a week and only 26% said two to six months. Aid agencies are concerned that the refugee movement will be too disorganised and too rapid, but UNHCR spokeswoman Judith Kumin said there were very few spontaneous returns at the weekend. "In general, our findings in camps show that...everyone wants return to take place as quickly as possible and as extensively as possible," Kumin told a Geneva briefing, adding that "on the whole, refugees follow our advice to wait for the withdrawal of Yugoslav forces and to wait for a signal that at least normal security is assured before heading back across the border." [Kosovans want to go home, but UN counsels delay – www.reuters.com ]

MACEDONIA: DEMONSTRATORS CLASH 15 Jun. 99 – Clashes broke out during demonstrations by ethnic Albanians and Kosovo refugees, injuring at least 15 civilians and four police, the Interior Ministry said yesterday, reports AP. Police said the largest demonstration Sunday was in Skopje, where as many as 3,000 ethnic Albanians applauded a convoy of NATO peacekeepers bound for Kosovo and shouted slogans in support of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Officials said the crowd became aggressive, damaging 11 cars and three buses and injuring a driver. In the western Macedonian town of Tetovo, police said crowds of Macedonians clashed with about 500 ethnic Albanian demonstrators. Shouts turned into a brawl that included rock throwing and attacks on shops owned mainly by Albanians. Tensions have run high between Macedonians and ethnic Albanians in Macedonia since Kosovo refugees began streaming in. Xinhua adds the Albanian news agency ATA yesterday said dozens of shop in Tetovo were damaged in the clash Sunday night between pro-Serb local Macedonians and Kosovo Albanian refugees. [Clashes erupt during ethnic Albanian demonstrations – www.ap.org; Dozens of Shop Damaged in Macedonian-Refugee Clash in Tetovo – www.xinhua.org ]

BALKANS: WEST MUST BRING PEACE 15 Jun. 99 – It is now up to the West to make a break with a decade of Balkan conflicts and bring lasting peace to the entire region. That means more than just an end to ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, say Anthony Borden and Christopher Bennett of the Institute for War and Peace Reporting, in an op-ed in the Washington Post. The West may be tempted to focus on Kosovo and the Albanian refugees and move on. But prospects for Kosovo's Serbian minority are bleak. Many have already decided to leave. In Serbia they will swell the ranks of other refugees, joining their ethnic kin from Croatia and Bosnia – forgotten victims of President Slobodan Milosevic's earlier wars. With this disillusioned population and half a dozen indicted war criminals at the helm, Serbia looks like fertile ground for unrest. The new vision must be regional. Its centrepiece must be justice. The second goal must be to give new impetus to refugee return both in Bosnia, where many still languish in temporary accommodation, and in Croatia, where lack of money, disenfranchisement and a nationalist administration in Zagreb have impeded the return of hundreds of thousands of Serbs. Third, the West must rethink the problem of ethnic nationalism and find mechanisms to resolve the tension between sovereignty and minority rights. Economic aid must be substantial, comprehensive and fast. Finally, the West must maintain its pressure on the Belgrade regime. [Heal the Whole Balkan Region, Serbia – www.washingtonpost.com ]

KOSOVANS: DON'T RETURN YET, URGES NATO 15 Jun. 99 – NATO appealed yesterday to Kosovo Albanian refugees not to return home until the international peacekeeping force has made the province safe, reports AP. "It's important the refugees stay put until it is time to go back," said NATO spokesman Jamie Shea. NATO is using television and radio broadcasts in Albania, and distributing newsletters in refugee camps urging the refugees not to return, said Lt. Col. Andy Williams, a NATO spokesman in Kukes, Albania. Williams said the military situation, including the threat from land mines, made it to dangerous for the some 860,000 refugees to go home. Also, international aid agencies lacked medical equipment and other facilities to help them in Kosovo, said Williams. He said NATO and international aid agencies were close to completing a repatriation plan to guide refugees back. Shea said most refugees were heeding the appeal not to return. The Los Angeles Times adds NATO forces pounded across Kosovo's borders yesterday to secure abandoned towns for awaiting refugees, and US troops took up positions guarding a suspected mass grave site. [NATO appeals to refugees not to go home yet – www.ap.org ; US Troops Guard Suspected Mass Grave Site – www.latimes.com ]

KOSOVANS: MASS RETURN SOON, SAYS UNHCR 15 Jun. 99 – The United Nations said yesterday it expected ethnic Albanian refugees would be able to start flowing back into Kosovo within a month, reports Reuters in Skopje. But the timing of a mass exodus from camps in Macedonia, Albania and Montenegro would depend on security inside Kosovo, said Soren Jessen-Petersen, UN assistant high commissioner for refugees. "We need to make sure villages are clear not just of mines but are free of all type of military activities," he said. Provided such conditions existed, "we believe that the major return could start in about three to four weeks time," he said. Jessen-Petersen said UNHCR felt it would be possible for some 500,000 refugees, more than 60% of the total, to be back home within three months. UNHCR has begun to speed the issuing to the refugees of special papers; in many cases the only documents they possess after being stripped of their papers by Serb forces. [UN plan sees mass return to Kosovo inside month – www.reuters.com ]

KOSOVANS: DE-MINING EFFORTS 15 Jun. 99 – The United States announced yesterday it had allocated US$1.6m to pay for emergency de-mining in Kosovo designed to make the province safe for returning ethnic Albanian refugees, reports AFP. AFP also reports UNICEF in Geneva said it began teaching Kosovo refugee children yesterday how to recognise landmines, ahead of their forthcoming return. Meanwhile Reuters reports Tim Herner, a UNHCR de-mining coordinator in Bosnia, said a group of Bosnian Serb mine clearance specialists is expected to leave for Kosovo this week to help establish a demining programme. [US allocates 1.6 million for emergency demining in Kosovo + UNICEF starts anti-mine lessons for refugee kids – www.afp.com ; Bosnian Serb mine clearers to leave for Kosovo – www.reuters.com ]

KOSOVANS: UN RECONSTRUCTION PLAN 15 Jun. 99 – Secretary-General Kofi Annan unveiled the UN peace-building plan for Kosovo yesterday, putting the European Union in charge of reconstruction and giving it primary responsibility for rebuilding government institutions and organising elections, reports AP. UNHCR will take charge of the return and resettlement of more than 850,000 ethnic Albanians who fled Kosovo and the UN will administer the province from the police to schools, buses and electric plants, Annan said in a report to the UN Security Council. Annan said "it is imperative" that the civilian administrator work closely with military forces deploying in Kosovo to ensure the safe return of refugees. Annan on Saturday appointed UN Undersecretary-General Sergio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian who is the UN's humanitarian chief, as interim special representative until he decides on a permanent appointment to the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK). UNHCR will help refugees return and will also be responsible for protecting and assisting "minority groups." [EU to be responsible for Kosovo reconstruction – www.ap.org]

KOSOVANS: MORE AID ANNOUNCED 15 Jun. 99 – Britain announced yesterday it was boosting aid for Kosovo's ethnic Albanian refugees by a further US$80.6m, on top of the US$64m already provided, reports Reuters. International Development Minister Clare Short said the extra money would be used for the return and resettlement of refugees in Kosovo. Meanwhile AFP reports Japan is to participate in the rebuilding of Kosovo and may extend additional financial aid to help ethnic Albanian refugees return home, a foreign ministry official said today. [Britain boosts Kosovo aid by further 50 mln stg – www.reuters.com; Japan to participate in rebuilding Kosovo – www.afp.com]

KOSOVANS: REBUILDING 'CHESS GAME' 15 Jun. 99 – Planning for a Balkans-wide reconstruction and development initiative needs to begin in earnest. Doing so will be a chess game, says Dennis Gallagher, director of the Refugee Policy Group, in the Christian Science Monitor. Obviously, a major issue will be the timing and circumstances of the return of Kosovo refugees. If refugees do not return in large numbers, the NATO "victory" will be Pyrrhic. However, pressuring Kosovan refugees to go back before they are ready will be against international norms and confuse Western public opinion. However, too many refugees going back too quickly could create humanitarian risks and even be politically destabilising. This issue could undermine all other efforts to assist the region following the termination of the conflict. At the same time, Albania and Macedonia need assistance to deal with the social and economic impact of massive numbers of refugees. Efforts in this regard must be initiated quickly before donor country interest to do so recedes. They must be calibrated carefully with consideration of the influence this aid can have on the decisions of refugees to return to Kosovo. The article then offers perspectives to keep in mind as aid efforts proceed. Meanwhile the Christian Science Monitor editorial says the rebuilding that ultimately matters most is the construction of a civil society: Hatred, fear, and revenge have to be given sparse room for expression. [Wresting recovery from crisis is a chess game + The Job Ahead in Kosovo – www.csmonitor.com ]

KOSOVO NOTES 15 Jun. 99 – Itar-Tass reports activists of the Japanese NGO Japan Emergency Team, who returned from Albania recently, said Albanian authorities promote anti-Serb feelings among the Kosovo refugees. AP reports a group of ethnic Albanian refugees brought to Australia has refused accommodation offered to them, the government said yesterday; Immigration Minister Philip Ruddock said the refugees would not be offered different accommodation. The Washington Post carries the story of ethnic Albanian refugee Ramadani Bejtus who returned home in late April and has pledged to protect his Serb neighbours – refugees from Croatia – after they had protected his family's cow and tried to save his property.

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