| KOSOVANS: STILL RETURNING
20 Jul. 99 – UNHCR yesterday said over 685,000 Kosovan refugees have returned to the
province, while about 87,500 remained in neighbouring countries, reports AFP.
Spokesman Ron Redmond said between 2,000 and 3,000 refugees returned each day, and
estimated that about 1,000 per day would also be returning from farther away via
Macedonia. After September 1, some refugees could fly directly into Pristina, he added.
UNHCR said some 31,000 refugees were in Montenegro, 28,400 in Macedonia, 15,000 in Bosnia,
and 13,000 in Albania. Meanwhile Reuters reports 100 ethnic Albanian refugees
arrived in Skopje yesterday from Germany on their way back to Kosovo. More than 9,000 of
the 92,000 ethnic Albanians airlifted from Macedonia have now been brought back from
Austria, France, Italy, Turkey and other countries, said UNHCR. AFP adds the
Netherlands said it will start repatriating Kosovan refugees this week. BBC News
reports a voluntary programme enabling Kosovo Albanian refugees in Britain to go home is
to start next week, said the government. AP reports most of the 215 Kosovar
refugees in Israel are returning home next week, an Israeli official said. [685,000
Kosovar refugees have now returned: UNHCR + Netherlands starts repatriating Kosovar
refugees – www.afp.com; Refugees flown back from
Germany head for Kosovo – www.reuters.com; Kosovo refugees leave UK – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Kosovar refugees in Israel to
return home next week – www.ap.org] KOSOVO: SOME SERBS RETURN 20 Jul. 99 – Despite fears of
retribution, Serb refugees are trickling back to the Kosovo towns they fled after
Yugoslavia agreed to allow ethnic Albanians to return, reports CNN. NATO's KFOR
peacekeepers are anxious to show Kosovan Serbs that they will protect them from ethnic
violence as vigorously as they would protect ethnic Albanians. But many other Serbs have
decided to take a wait-and-see approach. [Wary Serbs return to Kosovo – www.cnn.com]
MACEDONIA: KOSOVO GYPSIES ARRIVE IN CAMP 20 Jul. 99
– One hundred and six Gypsies have fled to Macedonia because of fears of acts of
revenge by ethnic Albanians, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said yesterday, reports Deutsche
Presse-Agentur. The gypsies had originally fled their own village and reached the
village of Stimlje, where they said they had been further intimidated and threatened. From
Stimlje, they went by foot 10 km to Urosevac, where they organised a bus to Macedonia,
Redmond said. They were now in the refugee camp of Stenkovec II, he said. Meanwhile the Financial
Times reports government leaders and diplomats say Macedonia is on the brink of an
economic crisis that could trigger ethnic conflict after the economy took a battering
during when more than 300,000 Kosovo Albanian refugees poured in. [E.U. mulls relaxing
sanctions against Serbia – www.dpa.com; Macedonia
'on the brink of economic and ethnic crisis' – www.ft.com]
ITALY: HUNDREDS (OF KOSOVO GYPSIES?) ARRIVE 20 Jul.
99 – A ship carrying 762 refugees from Yugoslavia arrived at Brindisi
yesterday after crossing the Adriatic in stifling heat, reports Reuters.
Coastguards said 359 of those aboard the fishing boat were children, some of whom had
developed fevers after temperatures soared to 45 degrees. The boat was thought to have
left the Montenegrin port of Podgorica three days ago. Italian customs police said the
refugees were being held in a makeshift centre in Brindisi while they were identified. But
AP reports the boat was carrying 762 Gypsy refugees, almost half of them children.
It was not immediately clear from where the Gypsies came. Hundreds of Gypsies have fled
from Kosovo. [Hundreds of Yugoslav refugees reach Italy – www.reuters.com; Boat brings 762 Gypsy refugees from
Yugoslav coast – www.ap.org]
This document is intended for public information purposes only. It is not an official UN
document. |
Document compiled by Dr S D Stein