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

Albania

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are 444,200 refugees in Albania. 106 refugees entered Albania from Kosovo, 116 from Macedonia, and no new refugees were reported to have arrived from Montenegro.
• Throughout Albania, the Government of Albania/Emergency Management Group (GOA/EMG) estimates that 211,150 refugees are in tent camps, 117,366 in collective centers, and 137,013 living with host families and in other accommodations.
• In Kukes Prefecture, the GOA/EMG estimates that there are 39,600 refugees in tent camps and 2,270 in collective centers.
• In the last 24 hours, 941 refugees were relocated from Kukes Prefecture to central and southern areas of Albania.
• USAID/DART reports that approximately 4,000 refugees and local Albanians fled the Kruma area to the town of Kukes on June 6 due to cross-border shelling. USAID/DART reports that the security situation is unchanged, and shelling continues.
• As of June 8, the population of Camp Hope was 3,478.
• UNHCR's shelter strategy promotes the cessation of tent camps that are just beginning construction and those in the conceptual stage. The strategy calls for emphasis on identification and rehabilitation of collective centers and the construction of pre-fabricated shelters to prepare for the upcoming winter.
• Existing tent camps in Albania have the capacity to absorb an additional 40,000 refugees this week.
• UNHCR is also encouraging increased emphasis on relief activities in support of host families so that refugees with host families do not begin to move into tent camps and collective centers. According to UNHCR, the host family mechanism is the most cost effective way to shelter refugees in the medium to long-term.
• Various NGOs, in consultation with organizations carrying out tracing activities, have developed a listing of refugees separated from family members. The listing provides detailed information regarding the whereabouts of missing refugees. The second version of the listing with new and updated information will be produced in one month.
• NGOs in Kukes have established an NGO Information Center modeled after the one in Tirana. The new center will tie into the existing information center in Tirana to facilitate the flow and improve the quality of information regarding relief activities in the northern region of the country.
• The World Food Program (WFP) reports that the EMG has held its first meeting on repatriation in light of the peace agreement. There was agreement on two key issues: the need for coordinated logistics planning and a refugee information campaign.
• WFP reports that two of five bakery units in Shkoder are currently not being used. They are available for eventual relocation to Kukes or Kosovo if complementary parts (generators, water tent, and rubhall) are procured. The NGO "War Child" has four truck-based bakeries available in the United Kindom for Kukes or Kosovo.
• WFP reports that given recent progress in peace negotiations, it has put plans to expand its logistics operations to include the ports of Shengjin and Vlore on hold.

Macedonia

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that there are 247,400 refugees in Macedonia. 213 refugees entered Macedonia in the last 24 hours. On June 8, there were 794 refugees transferred by air to third countries and 116 refugees traveled overland to Albania.
• UNHCR Skopje reports that 107,400 refugees are living in camps and transit centers, and the Macedonian Red Cross estimates 148,355 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.
• Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) signed an agreement on June 8, with the GOM contractor Pelegonija for construction of the Vrapciste camp. Construction will commence on June 9, and phase I is expected to be complete in 10 to 15 days.
• On June 8, three hundred fifty four refugees were transported from host families in Macedonia to third countries under the Humanitarian Evacuation Program (HEP).
• Despite the decrease in refugee arrivals, UNHCR continues to maintain 24-hour coverage at the Blace border crossing and carefully monitors the Tabanovce and Jazince border crossings as well as unofficial crossing points.
• UNHCR is working with local authorities to improve the tracking system of people entering the refugee camps. Currently the GOM is responsible for security at the gates of the camps, and UNHCR can accurately track official refugee entries into camps but can only estimate from police records the numbers of refugees who enter camps unofficially.
• In order to provide a more accurate estimate of refugees in camps, UNHCR will commence a two phase verification of registration records for refugees in all camps on June 9. Phase one involves the closing of each of the camps for one day while a census is taken of the refugee population. In the second phase, identity cards will be issued to all refugees in camps after approximately four weeks.
• The Department of Defense reported three hundred and thirty one refugees arrived at JFK airport on June 9 raising the total of refugees flown to the U.S. to 6,626. The next scheduled flight is on June 11.

Date: June 9, 1999 8:00 am GMT

Montenegro

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that 76 refugees arrived in Montenegro from Kosovo on June 7.

Region

• In a meeting held yesterday in Skopje, WFP presented the current WFP/UNHCR plan for the first 60 days of the return to Kosovo. The plan entails dividing Kosovo into seven areas of responsibility (AORs), currently assigned to Mercy Corps International, CARE International, Catholic Relief Services(CRS), International Rescue Committee, Oxfam, Solidarites, and Action Against Hunger/Children's Aid Direct (partnered). During the first 60 days these organizations are to manage the distribution of all food and non-food assistance within their AORs, whether distributing the commodities themselves or working with smaller PVOs at the municipality level.
• CRS reports that organizations included in the WFP/UNHCR return plan are being encouraged by WFP to prepare food packs/parcels for distribution during the first four weeks of assistance in Kosovo; however, WFP indicated that it has not made plans to prepare such packs.

(Source: UNHCR/Geneva)

Pescara, Italy Airdrops

• USAID Pescara Logistics Cell (PLC) reports that two planes completed airdrops of humanitarian commodities over Kosovo on 9. The two planes dropped a combined total 3,740 Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDRs) and 1,350 high-protein biscuits. No security incidents were reported. To date 11,618 HDRs and 1,875 high-protein biscuits have been delivered.
• Sorties flown on June 9 were flown at maximum capacity. The aircraft are reaching maximum capacity sooner than anticipated due in part to increased amount of fuel needed to conduct high altitude airdrops. PLC is exploring options to increase the capacity for deliverable cargo on the existing aircraft.

Commodities

• No new information.

Financial Support

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

USAID/BHR	$96,138,121
State/PRM	$69,779,500
DOD	$45,281,000
TOTAL	$211,198,621

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). During June 5-7, 43 calls were made to the public donation hotline. Since April 6, a total of 49,446 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.