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

Source: UNHCR Geneva.

Kosovo

• UNHCR/Geneva reports that over the past 24-hour period, a total of 23,500 refugees returned to Kosovo from Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia-Herzegovina, bringing the overall count of returnees to 500,600.
• According to UNHCR, since the crisis began, a total of 71,400 ethnic Serbs have departed Kosovo. Of these, 21,400 ethnic Serbs have departed Kosovo for Montenegro (8,700 eventually moved on to Serbia), and 50,000 departed directly to Serbia.
• DART reports that, on June 30, WFP responded to KFOR reports of hunger in the village of Nekovce in Lipljan municipality by airlifting five metric tons of flour and 800 HDRs. The commodities were consigned to the Mother Teresa Society (MTS) for distribution.
• The DART Health Officer visited Nekovce and reported that the MTS clinic had been destroyed, and there were no health care professionals among the population. According to MTS, the village consists of 2,900 people, including 730 children. Major health concerns among children are diarrhea, acute respiratory infections and sore throats.
• Based upon visits to several remote mountain villages that sustained considerable conflict-related damage, the DART Shelter Specialist believes that more substantial shelter kits may be required in certain areas if returnees are to live in their villages through the winter. This more substantial winter pack may have to include additional materials for modest and rudimentary reconstruction of walls and roof framing, as well as additional amounts of reinforced plastic sheeting.
• DART members traveled to the city of Mitrovica on June 29 to assess shelter and health needs. DART reports that the city's housing and non-residential building stock will require substantial inputs. DART reports that in some areas, particularly ethnic Albanian neighborhoods, some 15-20 percent of the building stock has been destroyed. The destruction appeared to be systematic and comprehensive in the center of the city where most ethnic Albania shops and businesses were located.
• According to a UN Interagency Coordination Council representative at least 63 NGOs have established offices in Kosovo since June 15. The UN representative believes the number of NGOs will reach over 100 within two weeks and maybe as high as 200 by the end of July.

Albania

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that 157,600 Kosovar refugees remain in Albania. They report that approximately 13,500 people left Albania for Kosovo on June 29. According to UNHCR, approximately 286,400 Kosovar refugees have returned to Kosovo from Albania since June 15.
• The Government of Albania Emergency Management Group (EMG) reports that the total number of refugees returning from Albania to Kosovo during the last two weeks of June reached 252,944. (Note: numbers reflect spontaneous repatriation. UNHCR's organized repatriation begins July 1). This number represents over 50% of the total Kosovar refugee population in Albania.
• Figures provided by the GOA/EMG stated that between June 16-28 approximately 18,000 refugees returned to Kosovo from Albania each day.
• DART reports that the refugees themselves continue to drive the pace and intensity of the repatriation process. The rate of spontaneous returns has demonstrated that a majority of refugees have access to resources required to make the return home without the support of the international community. Undoubtedly, a relatively small number of vulnerable refugees will require assistance in order to repatriate, and UNHCR, NATO and the EMG have existing plans to assist this population.
• A UNDP survey of returnees based on interviews conducted in Albania and Kosovo concluded that virtually all refugees are prepared to return to Kosovo as soon as possible using their own means rather than waiting for the organized repatriation efforts of the UNHCR, AFOR and the EMG.
• UNHCR intends to begin implementation of an organized repatriation plan on July 1. Detailed information on the return is being communicated to refugees via radio, television, posters, leaflets and the refugee newsletter.
• WFP reports that it is now providing food assistance to returning refugees only if it is specifically requested. This is due to the fact that too much food aid was being provided as evidenced by many refugees trading food for fuel, or selecting items from food parcels that they want and discarding the rest on the road. Relief organizations reported earlier in the week that the road between Kukes and Morini was littered with unwanted food items.
• NGOs are providing the EMG with a listing of collective centers that are already winterized and suitable for rehabilitation. Meanwhile, UNHCR is investigating the willingness of host families to house remaining refugees through the winter months.

Macedonia

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that 44,900 Kosovar refugees remain in Macedonia. They report that approximately 6,600 refugees left Macedonia to return to Kosovo on June 30. According to UNHCR, approximately 177,200 Kosovar refugees have returned to Kosovo from Macedonia since June 15.
• UNHCR reports that 17,240 refugees remain in camps and collective centers, while 27,737 remain in host families or private accommodations.
• UNHCR/Skopje report that on June 30, 3,537 returnees crossed at Blace, 2,995 crossed at Jazince and 60 crossed at Tabanovec.
• UNHCR reported that, to date, UNHCR/IOM has supported the repatriation of 1,456 refugees to Kosovo. Of these, 968 were returned to Pristina, and the remainder to Urosevac.
• DART reports that the long delay (sometimes up to 5 hours) at the Blace border for refugees, returning on their own, has been reduced. They no longer have to wait while border patrol inspects humanitarian aid shipments due to the use of a new lane at the crossing.
• DART reports that although the mine awareness campaign has been successful many of the returnees have no information about security issues, where they are going and if there is assistance for them in Kosovo.
• According to UNHCR Radusa camp, which was closed June 30, had been home to about 2,400 refugees since April, and the site is now being cleaned up by NGOs. The clean-up, mainly by the Macedonian Center for International Cooperation supported by the Norwegian Church Aid, which had been in charge of sanitation in Radusa, will take several days.
• DOD reports that 129 refugees departed the Fort Dix reception center on June 30, leaving the current population at 586. 126 refugees are scheduled to leave Fort Dix today.

Refugee Camp and Collective Center Information: Macedonia
Date: July 1, 1999, 00:00hrs GMT

Source: UNHCR Skopje.

Montenegro

• UNHCR reports that a total of 3,400 Kosovars returned home from Montenegro on June 30, bringing the total number of returnees over the past two weeks to 37,000. The Government of Montenegro is making arrangements for bus companies to help in an organized return of refugees. NGOs are supporting the effort.
• According to UNHCR on June 30, 64 Serbs arrived in Montenegro from Kosovo. More and more displaced Serbs from Kosovo are asking UNHCR/ Podgorica for assistance, accommodation, information on missing relatives and resettlement programs.

Commodities

• No new information.

** 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)

• To date, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided over $222 million in response to the Kosovo crisis since March 1998.

USAID/BHR	$107,560,393
State/PRM	$69,779,500
DOD	$45,281,000
TOTAL	$222,620,893

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).