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

Kosovo

• According to UNHCR, about 62,700 Kosovars went back to Kosovo between July 2-4, and 17,600 returned to Kosovo on July 5, bringing the overall returns to date to over 600,000. An estimated 132,700 Kosovar refugees and displaced people remain in Albania, Macedonia, and Montenegro. Most of the returns have been spontaneous, but UNHCR has organized returns for refugees without transportation from Albania and Macedonia. UNHCR-organized returns from Montenegro are scheduled to begin on July 7.
• UNHCR reports that they plan to increase the number of refugees transported per day in the organized return to Kosovo, which is currently at 1,000. The expected increase is because the remaining refugees in Albania and Macedonia are generally people who require more assistance and because of security concerns (looting and violence on refugees by gangs).
• DART reported that, on July 2, despite a quiet security night in most of Kosovo, several thousand ethnic Albanians celebrated the nine-year anniversary of the Kosovo Constitution by smashing ethnic Serb and state owned businesses. Several ethnic Albanians broke into the former state owned Jugobank and tore down almost every Cyrillic sign in the city.
• KFOR reports that the situation remains tense at the bridge dividing the ethnic Serbian and Albanian portions of Mitrovica. Since July 1, ethnic Albanians have gathered at the bridge preparing to cross into the ethnic Serbian side of town where ethnic Serbs await them. This situation has left Mitrovica divided for the past week. Despite the tension, KFOR has been able to disperse both crowds without incident each day.
• According to the Pristina Civil Military Coordination Center, in two separate instances on July 5, several hundred ethnic Albanians demonstrated outside of former State-run businesses, calling for their former jobs (Note: most ethnic Albanians were dismissed by Serbian authorities from positions in State-run structures between 1989 and 1991). Ethnic Albanians demonstrated outside the former State-run television station and the main municipal building in Pristina to demand their former jobs. Despite some initial concern, KFOR reported that the crowds never got out of control and dispersed peacefully.
• According to the Multinational Brigade East, due to open hostility from ethnic Serb residents, several small villages remain isolated from KFOR and NGO assistance. KFOR reports that the village of Zegra in Gnjilane municipality remains tense and difficult to access with the constant threat of sniper fire.
• The USAID/OFDA DART reports that a tremendous amount of damage could be seen from aerial assessment of the area north and northeast of Suva Reka. After landing in the village of Blace, 9 km north of Suva Reka, WFP representatives spoke with locals who reported that the village had 4,200 people who had not received any assistance since returning. Based on an initial assessment, WFP representatives called for five more helicopter deliveries of food.
• The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees, Madame Ogata, is finishing a two-day trip to Kosovo on July 6. On July 5, she accompanied a convoy of refugees returning from Macedonia to Pristina, and visited Pec and Prizren as well.

Albania

• UNHCR reports that between July 2-4, 39,200 refugees returned to Kosovo (mostly on their own) from Albania which brings the total returned to Kosovo from Albania to 339,700 since June 15.
• UNHCR reports, on July 5, 12,200 refugees repatriated from Albania to Kosovo, through the Morini crossing near Kukes, including 675 refugees who joined UNHCR and AFOR organized convoys. The convoys went to Prizren, Pristina and Urosevac.
• UNHCR reports, refugees from central and southern Albania continue to board trains for Mjeda on the outskirts of Shkodra, from where they are moved up to the northeastern border town of Kukes en route home. On July 5, AFOR helicopters and fixed wing aircraft also transported 379 refugees from camps in Korce in southeastern Albania directly to Kukes.
• More than 200,000 returnees have taken advantage of the repatriation package which is handed out by UNHCR and its partners at a distribution point between Kukes and the Morini border crossing.
• UNHCR reports, the total number of refugees remaining in Albania is 148,505 (15,750 in tented camps, 44,467 collective centers and 88,291 have other accommodations).
• UNHCR has rehabilitated 32 collective centers and nine prefectures to accommodate up to 18,000 refugees who prefer to remain in Albania.

Macedonia

• UNHCR headquarters estimates that about 19,000 Kosovar refugees remain in Macedonia and that approximately 3,600 refugees left Macedonia to return to Kosovo on July 5. According to UNHCR, approximately 203,100 Kosovar refugees have returned to Kosovo from Macedonia since June 15.
• On July 5, UNHCR and IOM provided organized transport back to Kosovo for 2,481 refugees.
• According to UNHCR/Skopje, of the approximately 19,000 remaining refugees, only 11,807 are residing in camps while 8,862 are with host families.
• The UN World Health Organization (WHO) and NGOs in the health sector report the situation in camps in Macedonia is generally stable. The water supply is adequate and waste collection has been intensified to cope with the garbage produced by departing refugees. The main diseases in camps continue to be watery diarrhea, upper respiratory infections, scabies/head lice, and fever of unknown origin.
• While all basic health services continue, NGOs are starting to consider a closure of health services in some camps due to the decrease in camp populations. The German Red Cross (GRC) expected to close services in Stenkovec I on July 5, after the camp formally closed on July 3. In Stenkovec II, essential services continue for about 4-5,000 refugees who remained as of June 2.
• UNHCR reports it will try to provide one week's notice to refugees prior to moving them to camps during the second consolidation phase. Senokos and Neprosteno camps, both of which provide relatively good health services, will most likely receive those refugees remaining in Macedonia who have severe medical problems.
• UNHCR Skopje delivered 29 trucks of relief assistance to Kosovo on July 6. The trucks carried tents, hygiene parcels, blankets and mattresses. Six trucks went to Prizren, eight to Djakovica, six to Pec and nine to Pristina.
• According to a joint UN/NGO nutritional and vaccination survey completed on June 25, immunization coverage for measles in camps in Macedonia is about 70 percent.

Refugee Camp and Collective Center Information: Macedonia
Date: July 6, 1999, 00:00hrs GMT

Source: UNHCR Skopje.

Montenegro

• UNHCR reports that a total of 900 Kosovars returned home from Montenegro on July 5, bringing the total number of returnees over the past two weeks to 47,700. 22,200 refugees remain in Montenegro.

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).