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

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

Albania

• The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) headquarters estimates that there are 433,000 refugees in Albania. Twenty three refugees entered the country from Kosovo on May 15, and on May 16, no refugees crossed the Morini border point into Albania for the first time since the crisis began in late March. In the last 48 hours, approximately 200 refugees entered Albania from Montenegro.
• According to UNHCR, more than 5,000 refugees left Kukes over the weekend for southern areas; 2,972 on Saturday and 2,157 Sunday.
• UNHCR reports that it received 64 water bladders from the Dutch government. UNCHR plans to increase the per capita water supply level to 10 liters of potable water and 10 liters for washing. Each bladder has a capacity of 10,000 liters and can thus supply 500 people per day.
• UNHCR reports that it delivered the first of four Reverse Osmosis Water Purification Units (ROWPU) to Camp Hope on May 15. Each ROWPU is capable of producing 120,000 liters of water per day, sufficient to fulfill the water intake of approximately 5,000 refugees per unit daily.
• According to the Department of Defense's (DOD) Joint Task Force, the USG-funded Camp Hope in Fier has a total of 1,004 refugees. Currently 260 tents are erected, with 2,585 tents available on-site.
• UNHCR delivered a total of 500 personal hygiene kits to Camp Hope.
• The World Food Program (WFP) reports that it has 6,000 MTs of food in-country. Half of the food is located in Durres and the remaining 50% is pre-positioned throughout the country in 7 extended delivery points.

Macedonia

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are currently 229,300 refugees in Macedonia, approximately 1,330 of whom entered over the last 48 hours from Kosovo. 1,212 refugees were transferred by air to third countries on May 15 and 1,246 were transferred by air to third countries on May 16. UNHCR reports that 78,900 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).
• The Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART)/Macedonia visited all refugee camps on May 15. The DART reports that the biggest problems in the camps are related to water and sanitation, particularly in Cegrane, which has no shower facilities. Details on the camp visits will be forthcoming.
• Since the May 10 beginning of UNHCR's Humanitarian Transfer Program (HTP), 208 refugees have been voluntarily transported under the program. The HTP provides transportation for refugees in Macedonia who wish to relocate to Albania. The refugees have been transferred to camps in the Korce area. 
• WFP reports that the German Government has offered to airlift the refugee population of Radusa tented camp to Germany under the UNHCR Humanitarian Evacuation Program. Due to persistent water problems in the camp as well as its close vicinity to the Kosovo border, the Macedonian authorities have requested that the camp be dismantled when empty. Discussions are underway between Macedonian authorities, German government representatives and UNHCR about the possibility of keeping the camp as a contingency facility for the possible influx of a large number of new refugees.
• The International Federation of Red Cross (IFRC)/International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reports that representatives from the Macedonia Labor and Social Policy Ministry, USAID, European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO), Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Mercy Corps International (MCI), CARE, InterSOS, the German Red Cross, and the IFRC met 13 May to plan for increasing food distributions to social cases, including the disabled and the poor. Currently the Macedonian Red Cross is assisting 5,693 social cases; however, the Ministry of Social Planning has reportedly identified 65,000 families in need of assistance.
• A flight with 395 refugees arrived on May 15 at McGuire Air Force Base under the "Provide Refuge" program. The current refugee population at Fort Dix is 2627 refugees.

** 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 63,300 refugees in Montenegro. On May 15, approximately 200 refugees departed for Albania.

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	$92,119,320
State/PRM	$59,779,500
DOD	$45,281,000
TOTAL	$197,179,820

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 14, 119 calls were made to the public donation hotline. Since April 6, a total of 48,159 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.