Regional: Refugees/Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Kosovo
 

*All numbers are estimates from UNHCR Headquarters. These numbers are constantly changing and being verified.

Albania

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are 431,500 refugees in Albania. On May 13, only one person crossed the Morini border into Albania. This is the lowest number to cross since the influx began on March 27. Four hundred people entered Albania from Montenegro.
• According to the Government of Albania (GOA) Emergency Management Group, 92,096 refugees remain in the Kukės prefecture and 4,689 refugees were relocated from Kukės to other areas of Albania in the last 24 hours. To date, 352,217 refugees have been relocated from Kukės.
• According to UNHCR, nearly 140,000 refugees are in camps or communal centers and 291,500 remain with host families. 
• The Government of Albania estimates that it will spend approximately USD $1 billion to respond to the refugee crisis by the onset of winter 1999-2000.
• According to the Department of Defense's (DOD) Joint Task Force "Shining Hope," 490 refugees from Kukės were relocated to Camp Hope in Fier. This was the first refugee group to be moved into the new refugee camp.
• Because of the general volatile security situation in the Kukės region, UNHCR said it would enforce a curfew for its staff beginning on May 15.
• The U.N. World Food Program (WFP) reports that it is currently in the process of increasing capacity of the new Shkoder bakery in order to meet the bread needs of refugees in host families.
• WFP reports that a United Kingdom donation of 18,900 MREs (meals ready-to-eat) will arrive today in Tirana. WFP reports that stocks of Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDRs) are low.
• WFP reports that it has provided canned food and HDRs for distribution in the newly opened Camp Hope. A rubbhall (portable storage facility) has been erected to house a camp bakery.
• WFP is urging donors establishing new refugee camps to refrain from supplying the camps with food. WFP reports that it has the adequate food supplies to meet the basic needs of all refugees in camps and collective centers, including new arrivals and emergency cases.

Macedonia

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are currently 233,000 refugees in Macedonia, 59 of whom entered over the last 24 hours from Kosovo. 1,523 refugees were transferred by air to third countries on May 13. UNHCR reports that 82,600 refugees are living in camps and transit centers and 120,432 refugees are living with host families (registered by the Macedonian Red Cross). UNHCR estimates that 30,000 unregistered refugees are living elsewhere in Macedonia (this number includes an estimated 4,900 refugees living in border communities).
• UNHCR reported that fifty nine people arrived at Blace border crossing Thursday, including 47 people on a train who were all allowed to cross even though many did not have proper identification, marking the first time that people without proper documents were allowed to cross the Serbian and Macedonian borders since last week when the entry points were sealed off. 
• Refugees living in host families in Macedonia are residing almost entirely in ethnic Albanian communities with ethnic Albanian host families. There are no reported cases of ethnic Macedonian families hosting Albanians. The Albanian population is found in north-central, northwestern, and western Macedonia in municipalities bordering Kosovo and Albania.
• On average, 30 percent of all Albanian families, or 6.5 percent of the total Macedonian population, are housing refugees. However, the 30 percent are not evenly distributed throughout the Albanian communities within Macedonia; in some northern areas density is higher than the average 30 percent. In the Kumanovo municipality, for example, the DART found that the refugee population outnumbered the host community. These municipalities cannot sustain any significant increase in the refugee caseload. 
• There are three potential resources for housing additional refugees. First, there are houses left vacant by a significant percentage of the Albanian population of Macedonia who live and work outside the country. Many refugees already live in such houses. Secondly, hotels that have lost business due to the war may be able to accommodate more refugees, particularly if donors cover operating costs. Finally, there are many existing unused buildings and factories that could be converted to shelter large numbers of refugees.
• A camp food management meeting will be held in Skopje on Wednesday, May 19 with WFP and agencies involved in food distributions at the camp level. Discussions will include bread distribution, cooking facilities, and the distribution of complementary food items.
• WFP reports that the number of refugees registered with Macedonian Red Cross is 102,165. The May planning figure, taking into account the existing registration plus a contingency supply for as yet unregistered refugees is 143,305 beneficiaries. Distribution of food aid for the month of May is to begin this weekend in Gostivar and Struga.
• The fifth "Provide Refuge" flight is scheduled to arrive with another 450 refugees on May 13. The sixth flight is scheduled to arrive on May 15 with 450 refugees. Personnel at Fort Dix continue to conduct in-processing activities. The U.S. has received 1856 refugees to date, with 1754 received at Fort Dix. The first sponsored refugees departed Ft. Dix on 13 May.

** Some refugees were moved to third countries by the GOM w/o UNHCR/IOM involvement: 10,000 to Albania, 5,500 to Greece, 2,243 to Turkey, and 88 to Croatia. (Source: UNHCR/Geneva)

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are 64,300 refugees in Montenegro. Approximately 400 refugees departed for Albania on May 13.
• WFP reports that in a meeting held yesterday with Montenegro President, Mr. Filip Vujanovic, the President thanked WFP for its role in facilitating the donation of 4,730 MTs of USG Title II commodities to Montenegro for use in social assistance programs.
• WFP was also thanked for its ongoing efforts to support IDPs and refugees throughout Montenegro.
• WFP reports that the port of Bar has been officially re-opened, but that strict clearance procedures for port entry are still in effect. The port remains under Yugoslav Navy control.
• In a joint planning meeting held May 11, the Montenegrin Red Cross (MRC) reported that they had distributed food to 86,236 IDPs during April. A planning figure of 81,000 IDPs has been adopted for WFP/CRS/MCI May distributions through the MRC.
• WFP is assessing the possibility of establishing warehouses in Podgorica and in the north of Montenegro to ease transport logistics in Montenegro and to facilitate the eventual movement of food into Kosovo.

USG Humanitarian Assistance:

Commodities

• No new information.

Financial Support

• To date the USG has provided over $190 million in response to the Kosovo crisis, beginning in March 1998. 

USAID/BHR	$85,396,995
State/PRM	$59,779,500
DOD	$45,281,000
TOTAL	$190,457,495

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 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 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. On May 13, 135 calls were made to the public donation hotline. Since April 6, a total of 48,040 calls have been received by the hotline.
• Past USAID/OFDA Factsheets can be obtained from the USAID web site at the following URL: http://www.info.usaid.gov/ofda/situation.html.