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

• On June 20, the Kosovo Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) traveled to Pristina and found a general shortage of bread in the city. Ethnic Albanians own many of the bakeries that are closed in Pristina and may return soon. The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has expressed an interest in providing yeast to bakeries once they reopen.
• The International Rescue Committee (IRC) reported a general bread shortage in Gnjilane (IRC's Area of Responsibility (AOR)), where only one bakery is currently functioning. However, IRC's initial impression is that the food security situation in the region is not as bad as feared. The Gnjilane area suffered much less damage than other parts of Kosovo, and wheat and barley are growing in the fields and people are picking fruit, according to IRC. Fresh vegetables, mostly imported from Macedonia, are available in the market. Because of these conditions, IRC believes emergency food assistance may only be needed for one to three months in this area.
• IRC is optimistic about its ability to distribute food in its AOR. The Yugoslav Red Cross will handle distribution to areas with a majority ethnic Serb population. On June 21, IRC began distributing 4,000 USAID/OFDA-funded ready-to-eat parcels provided by CRS.
• WFP reports that its "Kosovo Response Unit" (KRU) has established standard operating procedures for the use of WFP helicopters. Two 3 MT helicopters are being used to assess and access areas which are unreachable by road due to mines. Sunday the helicopters were used to assess and distribute emergency rations in the Drenica region. The helicopters are currently transporting approximately 1,000 high-protein rations per flight. A third WFP/KRU helicopter, capable of carrying 20 MTs is on stand-by. WFP has offered to make the helicopters available to NGOs who wish to conduct aerial assessments.
• Children's Aid Direct (CAD) had not begun distribution in its Pristina AOR as of June 20 due to land mine concerns. CAD will eventually be responsible for food and non-food distribution in Obilic, Kosovo Polje, and rural Pristina.
• The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) returned to Kosovo and began food and non-food distributions during the final weeks of conflict. During the past four weeks, ICRC provided approximately 500 MT of food and non-food supplies to IDPs in inaccessible areas as well as supplies, where needed, to at-risk populations in towns.
• ICRC told the DART that it plans to transfer humanitarian responsibility to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other organizations by mid next week. ICRC will maintain water/sanitation and health programs but will revert to its traditional mandate of tracing and prisoner checks. ICRC will maintain emergency supplies of food, non-food, water and hygiene packs for 100,000 people for one week.
• A Mercy Corps International (MCI) convoy of 13 trucks carrying mostly food commodities arrived in Pec on June 17. The population of Pec is unknown, according to MCI, because many ethnic Serbs have departed or are planning to depart. Mercy Corps reports that it will send its second food convoy to Pec June 22 or 23. 17 trucks will carry 8,000 3-day ready-to-eat rations, 250 MTs of wheat flour, 25 MTs each of sugar, salt, and beans, and 13 MTs of vegetable oil (approximately 25,000 30-day rations).
• On June 18-19, MCI distributed commodities to the towns of Qyesht and Zahac, to the west of Pec, and to the city of Decani.
• According to MCI's initial assessments, estimated damage to houses in Pec is 80 percent, and 40 percent in Klina.
• The DART has been investigating problems associated with Pristina's water system since service was disrupted on June 16. The city water system is currently facing three problems that prevent its normal operations: security concerns of the ethnic Serb staff; insufficient finances to cover basic staff and operating costs; and a diminishing supply of key chemicals, particularly aluminum sulfate. KFOR has estimated that these problems, if not addressed, could bring the system to a complete halt in five days.
• KFOR has already addressed the first problem by agreeing to provide security assistance at the facility to assuage the fears of ethnic Serb staff. The DART is working with IRC to provide aluminum sulfate. An initial purchase of 10 tons was made on June 22, and UNHCR and IRC are working to expedite its delivery to Pristina.
• According to MDM/F, many local ethnic Albanian health care providers in Suva, Reka, Orahovac, and Glocovac have returned to rural health points and have already started to form health coordination councils at the grass roots level.
• KFOR has estimated that while about a third of Kosovo's Serbs fled as Serb forces pulled out, some 2,000 Serbs have returned in the past two days.

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that 335,200 refugees remain in Albania. UNHCR reports that approximately 18,900 people left Albania for Kosovo.
• The Government of Albania's Emergency Management Group (GOA/EMG) reports that 17,643 refugees arrived in Kukes from central and southern Albania on June 21. Since June 15, approximately 73,131 refugees have returned to Kukes from central and southern Albania.
• The GOA/EMG reports that 107,840 refugees have returned to Kosovo since June 15. On June 21, 13,400 refugees crossed into Kosovo at Morini border point and 2,600 entered at the Qaf-e-Prushit border point.
• According to GOA/EMG, 1,200 refugees remain in the Kukes area, with approximately 400 refugees still in tented camps.
• There is no mass movement of refugees to Kosovo from central and southern Albania. There is speculation that the approximately 200,000 refugees paying rent for apartments and host family space will begin to move in larger numbers toward Kukes within the next ten days to two weeks as July rent comes due.
• The DART reports that refugees are not waiting for UNHCR's organized return plan , which is scheduled to begin on July 1.
• UNHCR and the GOA/EMG have revised downward to 50,000 the number of refugees expected to remain in Albania throughout the winter. UNHCR and GOA/EMG prefer to accommodate refugees in host family homes and state-owned buildings during the winter months.

• The DART, in concert with ECHO and UNHCR, has developed a housing support program for vulnerable families hosting refugees and vulnerable social case families in Macedonia. The program provides shelter rehabilitation for the 20 percent most vulnerable host families, as determined by local emergency committees and implementing partner NGOs.
• UNHCR completed its registration of reguees in camps in Macedonia on June 20. UNHCR reports that the planned second phase of registration, during which refugees would receive a more permanent ID card, will now be abandoned due to the quick return of many refugees to Kosovo.
• UNHCR is beginning a program of organized return to Kosovo for refugees. UNHCR will identify refugees originating from municipalities declared "safe" by KFOR and provide transport for their return. UNHCR plans to target its return efforts to areas that are declared safe by KFOR and in which UNHCR has established a presence.
• On June 21, UNHCR distributed its third information leaflet in camps in Macedonia providing information on repatriation. UNHCR reported that it is also distributing a separate leaflet at the border for refugees spontaneously returning to Kosovo. The leaflet provides information on documents necessary for travel across the border into Kosovo and for future return to Macedonia.
• According to UNHCR, the GOM has accepted refugees' temporary ID cards as travel documents for refugees, and refugees travelling on this identification can return to Macedonia two or three times.
• The Department of Defense reported that 199 refugees departed Fort Dix for host families on June 21. The current population of Fort Dix is 1,728.

Refugee Camp and Collective Center Information: Macedonia
Date: June 22, 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 headquarters estimates that 69,500 refugees remain in Montenegro. UNHCR reports that approximately 250 people left Montenegro for Kosovo. On June 21, approximately 122 refugees, mainly Kosovo Serbs, arrived in Montenegro.

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 U.S. Government (USG) has provided over $215 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 21, 26 calls were made to the public donation hotline. Since April 6, a total of 49,877 calls have been received by the hotline.