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

Albania

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are 443,800 refugees in Albania. 168 refugees have entered Albania from Kosovo and 84 from Macedonia, over the last 24 hours.
• Throughout Albania, the Government of Albania (GOA) Emergency Management Group estimates that 83,330 refugees are in tent camps, 95,282 in collective centers, and 286,687 living with host families and in other accommodations.
• In Kukes Prefecture, the GOA/EMG estimates that there are 30,615 refugees in tent camps and 2,484 in collective centers.
• In the last 24 hours, 1,300 refugees moved from Kukes Prefecture to central and southern areas of Albania.
• UNHCR headquarters reported that UNHCR and GOA trucks evacuated more than 800 refugees from Krume in northern Albania to a collective center in Puke and the others to a camp in Shkoder to the west. Some of the evacuees were accommodated at a tented warehouse in Kukes town.
• The USAID Disaster Assistance Response Team in Albania (DART/Albania) reports that 3,460 refugees are registered in Camp Hope as of 6 a.m. EDT.
• In light of the recent developments concerning a Kosovo peace agreement, the US Embassy recommends placing a temporary hold on construction activities at Camp Eagle.
• Following the pullout of Marines from Camp Eagle on June 4, a number of looters, including women, entered the camp at night and stole materials and equipment.
• NATO and UNHCR will soon begin winterization efforts, focusing primarily on collective centers. UNHCR plans to reduce the establishment of tent camps with the announcement of the peace agreement. However, refugees are expected to begin returning to Kosovo only after a couple of months.
• UNHCR is developing a strategy to address sanitation during the approaching summer months. The strategy will include vector control, human solid waste management, and hygiene. The World Health Organization (WHO), the GOA, and NATO will collaborate in this strategy.
• The GOA/EMG has established a Winterization Cell, which will address the winter needs of refugees in Albania.
• Rockets and mortar rounds fell in areas of northern Albania as fighting between Yugoslav forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army continued over the weekend.

Macedonia

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are 247,400 refugees in Macedonia. 407 refugees entered Macedonia in the last 48 hours. On June 5 and 6, there were 323 refugees transferred by air to third countries and 84 traveled overland to Albania.
• UNHCR Skopje reports that 108,800 refugees are living in camps and transit centers, and the Macedonian Red Cross estimates 138,600 refugees are registered as living with host families. The Government of Macedonia (GOM) estimates that more than 30,000 refugees are unregistered and living elsewhere in Macedonia.
• UNHCR headquarters reported that an angry group of Kosovars at Stankovac I camp attacked a family belonging to the Roma ethnic group on June 5 after a member was identified by a refugee as having allegedly been involved in the killing of his father in Podujevo town. Rioting broke out until UNHCR, Madedonian police, US Ambassador Christopher Hill, and non-governmental organization (NGO) staff intervened. Some staff members suffered minor injuries during the rioting. As a result of the incident, UNHCR has transferred five other ethnic Roma families out of the Stankovac I camp. UNHCR is also investigating the allegations against the Roma refugee who was assaulted.
• UNHCR headquarters reports that new refugee arrivals in Macedonia say Serbian troops were continuing a campaign of violence in major cities in Kosovo, evicting residents from their homes at gunpoint, looting and burning houses. Further, in some areas, there were reports among refugees from Pristina, Gnjilane, Kosovska, Kamenica, and Pec that the number of paramilitary and police forces had even increased despite the announcement in Belgrade that as part of the peace agreement.

Date: June 7, 1999 8:00 am GMT

Source: UNHCR Skopje.

(Source: UNHCR/Geneva)

Montenegro

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that 70 refugees arrived in Montenegro from Kosovo on June 4. No subsequent information is available.

Region

• USAID Pescara Logistics reports that two planes completed airdrops of humanitarian commodities over Kosovo on June 7. The two planes dropped 2,000 and 1,000 Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDRs) respectively. No security incidents were reported. To date, 4,658 HDRs have been delivered.
• The US Department of State (DOS) reports that there were four humanitarian mission convoys into the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) on June 6. To date, there have been a total of 292 missions.

Commodities

• No new information.

Financial Support

• To date the USG has provided over $210 million in response to the Kosovo crisis since March 1998.

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). On June 4, 49 calls were made to the public donation hotline. Since April 6, a total of 49,403 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.