Regional

Refugees/IDPs from Kosovo (*All numbers are estimates from UNHCR Headquarters.)

Albania

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are 365,500 refugees in Albania, 500 of whom entered at the Morini border crossing and 500 of who entered via Montenegro within the last 24 hours.
• On April 26, relief agencies transferred 5,500 refugees from Kukės and Krume to areas in the central and southern part of the country.
• In an attempt to encourage refugees to move from the north, UNHCR is organizing site visits for refugee elders and leaders to areas in southern and central Albania. The first site visit will occur today to Peshkopi, Bulqize, and Burrel, where space is available for some 8,000 refugees.
• An NGO co-ordination body has been established in Tirana. The group shares information and provides links to both the Emergency Management Group (EMG) and local NGOs.
• NATO is reinforcing the logistical support capacity in Kukės by constructing a helicopter landing site, preparing additional warehouse space, and improving the roads and transportation fleet.
• WFP reports that the first NATO trucking support to move relief items took place yesterday. Dutch NATO trucks moved 40 MT of WFP wheat flour from Durrės to Fier.
• UNICEF has already vaccinated 16,000 refugee children against measles and polio in the Kukės area and UNICEF will extend the vaccination campaign to local Albanian children.
• The Emergency Management Group has reported that progress is being made regarding customs clearance procedures in Durrės. Starting today, there will be a permanent customs representative in both Durrės and Rinas.
• Two rubhalls (portable storage facilities) have been erected in Rinas. These facilities will store ready to eat meals for airlifting to emergency caseloads, new arrivals at the borders, and transitory refugees.
• According to the MOH, the current priority in the health sector is to increase mobile health care services and prevent disease outbreaks. The main health problems reported to date include digestive problems, measles, and meningitis. In this regard, the MOH urgently needs additional supplies for diagnostic purposes.

Macedonia

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are 138,750 refugees currently in Macedonia, approximately 2,800 of whom arrived via the Blace border crossing by train and bus in the last 24 hours. Most of these refugees were placed in camps. Another 800 refugees entered at Lojane, most of whom were placed in host families. 59,800 of the refugees in Macedonia are in camps and 78,600 are with host families.
• Since 8 a.m. on April 27, ten buses and one train have arrived at Blace bringing 3,000 people, according to UNHCR and OSCE. At Jazince, the DART reports that there are 35 people waiting in no man's land.
• UNHCR estimates that 38,200 refugees are living with host families or private accommodations in Tetovo municipality, 19,500 in Skopje municipality, 5,000 in Debar, 4,100 in Gostivar, 3,800 in Kicevo, 3,100 in Struga, 2,900 in Kumanovo, and 2,000 in other municipalities.
• Under the humanitarian evacuation plan, UNHCR and IOM plan on transporting over 5,000 refugees to third countries between April 26 to April 30. According to UNHCR, 36 countries have agreed to accept over 136,000 asylum seekers.
• As of April 23, the Macedonian Red Cross had registered 66,895 refugees as humanitarian assisted persons, according to the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC). The registration entitles beneficiaries to food and non-food assistance, medical services, education, and social services. According to the IFRC, the registration numbers are expected to rise because of the strain the refugees are placing on host families.
• Camp details: See below.

Macedonia Camp Information

** Some refugees were moved to third countries prior to April 6 by the Government of Macedonia: 10,000 were moved to Albania, 5,500 to Greece, and 1,980 to Turkey. Another 88 were sent to Croatia under a bilateral agreement between the Government of Macedonia and the Government of Croatia.

• Montenegro currently hosts 63,800 displaced Kosovar Albanians, according to UNHCR. 500 displaced persons from Kosovo left Montenegro for Albania on April 26.

Commodities

• On April 22, 1,263 tents and 46,348 blankets arrived in Macedonia from the USAID/OFDA stockpile in Maryland. UNHCR immediately requested 500 of the tents for the new refugee camp in Cegrane. OFDA also provided 100 tents for the reception center at Blace and the expansion of Stankovac II. UNHCR distributed over 10,000 USAID/OFDA blankets on April 24 and 25.
• At the request of UNHCR, the Department of Defense has contracted for the delivery of 1,300 tents and 5,000 blankets for Albania. To date, 774 tents and 4,000 blankets have been delivered. The remaining tents and blankets are scheduled for delivery on April 28 and 29.

Financial Support

• To date the USG has provided over $183 million in response to the Kosovo crisis, beginning in March 1998.

  USAID/BHR	$77,329,623
  State/PRM	$58,648,600
  DOD	$47,949,000
  TOTAL	$183,927,223

Background:

• In late February 1998, following an unprecedented series of clashes in Kosovo between Serbian police forces and members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Serbian police raided villages in Kosovo's Drenica region, a KLA stronghold. The police reportedly burned homes and killed dozens of ethnic Albanians in these raids. Thousands of ethnic Albanians in Pristina protested Serb police actions, and were subsequently attacked by the police with tear gas, water cannons, and clubs.
• As a result of the fighting, thousands of Kosovar Albanians were displaced from their homes, many taking refuge with host families, while a smaller proportion (several thousand) took to the hills and forests.

Public Donation Information:

• In the interest of effective coordination of such public response, we encourage concerned citizens to provide monetary donations to appropriate organizations. USAID encourages the public to contact directly those private voluntary organizations (PVOs) currently working in the region to provide monetary donations. A list of those PVOs may be obtained from the USAID website at http://www.info.usaid.gov/. The list is composed of PVOs that are registered with USAID and/or listed by InterAction, a coalition of voluntary humanitarian and development organizations that work overseas; InterAction can be contacted at 1-818-502-4288, or via the Internet at http://www.interaction.org/. Those interested in providing specific technical relief services or commodities should contact Volunteers in Technical Assistance's (VITA) Disaster Information Center for information and guidelines (703) 276-1914.
• For more information, please contact the public donations hotline at 1-800-USAID-RELIEF, which is staffed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• Past USAID/OFDA Factsheets can be obtained from the USAID web site at the following URL: http://www.info.usaid.gov/ofda/situation.html.