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

Kosovo

• The British Brigade has established a Civilian Military Coordination Center (CIMIC) in downtown Pristina, replacing the temporary site originally established at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) warehouse compound in Pristina.
• UNHCR intends to supply 10 non-food items as part of a standard return package for an estimated 125,000 refugee and IDP families (750,000 individuals). The items include: plastic sheeting, blankets, mattresses, hygiene packs, jerry cans, can openers, candles, garbage bags, soap, and sanitary napkins.
• European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) intends to supply 4 complementary non-food items, including kitchen sets, baby packs, shoes and clothes, to approximately 20,000 families (120,000 individuals).
• International Medical Corps (IMC) is operating two mobile clinics, one in Gnjilane and one in Urosevac. Medicins du Monde (MDM)-France is operating several mobile clinics in the Glogovac area. American Refugee Committee (ARC) will commence mobile clinic operations in Djakovica on/about June 22. Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF)-Holland will conduct mobile clinic operations from offices in Pristina and Pec.
• MSF is also providing supplies and support to the hospital in Prizren. Several organizations, including Doctor of the World-U.S. and MDM-Greece are collaborating on providing supplies to the main Pristina hospital.
• Pharmiciens Sans Frontieres (PSF) is working with the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) on establishing a drug monitoring and distribution system.
• The DART is working with numerous organizations (UN Mine Action Service, UNICEF, KFOR, UNHCR, DOS/PM, HELP and Halo Trust) to promote an integrated and well-coordinated approach to mine action in Kosovo.
• UNHCR and Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) representatives are exploring alternative fuel sources for cooking and heating stoves in an effort to avoid potential wide-scale deforestation in the coming months.

Albania

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that 354,100 refugees remain in Albania. UNHCR reports that approximately 35,600 people left Albania for Kosovo. 15,000 returned June 19 and 20,600 returned on June 20. Since June 15, approximately 90,500 Kosovars have returned through the Morini or the Qaf-e-Prushit border crossing points. UNHCR discourages use of the Qaf-e-Prushit crossing point, owing to reports that the area is heavily mined. The majority of refugees returning to Kosovo are traveling in their own vehicles.
• According to UNHCR, approximately 77,000 refugees have left the municipality of Kukes in a week. Seven days ago there were 112,000 refugees in Kukes and today there are fewer than 35,000, with less than 5,000 left in camps.
• The Department of Defense (DOD) reports that the USS INCHON, which had been providing humanitarian assistance, was released from operations.
• DOD reports that approximately 2,000 surplusCamp Hope tents have been donated to UNHCR.
• The Government of Albania (GOA)/Emergency Management Group (EMG) reports that 14,188 refugees have arrived in Kukes from central and southern Albania in the last 24 hours.
• NATO forces in Albania have produced special television advertisements to warn refugees, particularly children, of the dangers of land mines or booby traps. Dozens of refugees have been wounded by land mines/booby traps while trying to return to their homes in Kosovo.
• WFP reports that the distribution of basic humanitarian rations at the Kukes way-station to refugees returning to Kosovo continues. The individual return food package contains canned meat or fish, biscuits and bread; in addition each group of five refugees received 50kg flour, 5 liters vegetable oil, and 10 kg beans. On June 19, 8,750 refugees received return packages.
• WFP reports that it is not currently supporting the spontaneous return of refugees, and that in Kukes return food packages are only being distributed on the road to the border. The composition of a standard return package is still under discussion, and may include International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) food parcels.
• The joint GOA/EMG, UNHCR, and AFOR repatriation plan was released June 18. The plan goes into effect July 1 and will provide transport (bus, train, and airlift) services at 7 way stations and transit centers for the return of up to 3,000 refugees daily.
• The World Food Program (WFP) reports that distributions in Tropoje have been suspended due to the withdrawal of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) representatives. The last distribution occurred June 15.

Macedonia

• DOD reports the current refugee population at Fort Dix, New Jersey is now 1,927; 202 are scheduled to depart on June 21. Future refugee flights will go to John F. Kennedy (JFK) Airport, New York; three flights are scheduled into JFK this week.
• UNHCR continues its information program. It is publishing its third information leaflet in camps in Macedonia providing information on repatriation. UNHCR will disseminate separate fliers at the border for those who are spontaneously repatriating, listing necessary documents for transiting the border and for multiple transits. UNHCR will start its radio programs tomorrow to provide more detailed information on the situation inside Kosovo.

Refugee Camp and Collective Center Information: Macedonia
Date: June 21, 1999 8:00 am GMT

Source: UNHCR Skopje.

** Some refugees were moved to third countries by the GOM w/o UNHCR involvement: 10,000 to Albania, 5,500 to Greece, 1,980 to Turkey, and 88 to Croatia. (Source: UNHCR/Geneva)

Montenegro

• UNHCR reports that few Serb refugees arrived from Kosovo on June 19 and 20. To date, the total number of refugees moving into Montenegro since June 9 is 19,170.

Pescara, Italy—Airdrops

• No airdrops were conducted on June 20 or 21. To date, 62,982 HDRs and 10,000 high-protein biscuits have been delivered.

• 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	$101,936,372
State/PRM	$69,779,500
DOD	$45,281,000
TOTAL	$216,996,872

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 1-202-667-8227 x106, 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 18, 27 calls were made to the public donation hotline. Since April 6, a total of 49,851calls have been received by the hotline.