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

* UNHCR figures have been revised to reflect movements back and forth borders more accurately.

Kosovo

• UNHCR reports that 20,400 Kosovars returned to Kosovo between July 9 and 11 from neighboring countries, bringing overall returns from countries in the region to 662,000 since 15 June.
• To date, at least 9,600 Kosovar refugees have returned home from third countries in both organized and spontaneous movements (from Austria, Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Germany, Italy and Turkey), according to UNHCR. UNHCR Turkey plans to begin organized voluntary repatriation flights for Kosovar refugees by the end of July. An estimated 7,600 Kosovars have returned spontaneously from Turkey to date.
• A UNHCR representative in Pristina reported that there is no obvious solution for the "Roma problem" in Kosovo. UNHCR wants to resettle those Roma that want to leave Kosovo, but no country has volunteered to take them. UNHCR has started looking for a temporary site within Kosovo where the Roma can be relocated. The current camp in Kosovo Polje holds 5,000 Roma, but its sustainable capacity is reported to be only 1,000. UNHCR stated clearly it has no intention of building a permanent camp for the Roma within Kosovo. The UNHCR representative also said that "we want to return [the Roma] to their homes in a secure environment but this is a long way off."
• In Orahovac, UNHCR reports that it is monitoring the situation of around 3,000 Serbs from various areas in the city and the nearby villages of Velica Hoca and Zociste who have been stranded in the town center since they fled attacks by ethnic Albanians the past two weeks. Most of their houses have been burned and 219 of them said they would like to leave Kosovo immediately.
• On July 9, Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, Julia Taft, visited Kosovo to observe the humanitarian situation and overall coordination of the relief effort. She met with representatives of UNHCR, the USAID DART, KFOR, NGOs, IOM, and ICRC. She concluded her day in Kosovo by addressing the daily humanitarian briefing in Pristina, where she emphasized the need to work with local NGOs and the need to support the local economy.
• From June 28 through July 5, WHO conducted an assessment of the Institute for Public Health offices in Kosovo. The assessment found that, due to the closure of IPH facilities during the conflict, almost no records of communicable or non-communicable diseases were kept and immunization coverage during this period was non-existent throughout Kosovo. IPH also identified the need for reagents and consumables. Most, if not all the ethnic Serbs working for the IPH have left their jobs, including the entire Serbian staff of the main IPH office in Pristina, who left on June 25. The IPH is now staffed primarily by ethnic Albanians.
• On July 10, the DART field officer, Food for Peace officer, and information officer visited the WFP regional office in Mitrovica. The WFP implementing partner in the Mitrovica area of responsibility (AOR), the Norwegian Refugee Council, is providing food for 203,000 beneficiaries in that region.

Albania

• UNHCR reports that 17,500 refugees returned from Albania to Kosovo between July 9 and 11. To date, 398,000 refugees have returned to Kosovo from Albania. As of July 9, about 32,318 refugees were living in collective centers, 7,318 in tented camps and about 77,045 in other types of accommodations. AFOR reports that on June 9, 126 refugees were transported from Korce to Kukes by AFOR aircraft and 201 refugees were transported from Pogradec to Kukes by helicopter.
• On July 11, the number of returnees from Albania to Kosovo fell below the 5,000 mark for the first time since the massive repatriation started on 15 June - 3,130 of which were spontaneous and 1,009 of which were UNHCR/IOM organized. UNHCR reports that the drop in the number of spontaneous returns of refugees to Kosovo indicates that many of the refugees remaining in Albania will need transport assistance.
• UNHCR reports that security problems persist along the roads in Albania that are used by refugees for return to Kosovo. On July 10, one family was attacked by bandits on the road between Tirana and Kukes. UNHCR warns refugees against travelling at night.

Macedonia

• UNHCR reports that approximately 900 refugees returned from Macedonia to Kosovo between July 9 and 11, bringing the total returns to 212,100.
• UNHCR reports that the Government of Macedonia has agreed to extend the validity of the registration document ("green card") held by Kosovar refugees living outside of camps through 28 September. Authorities are keeping count of people who come to police stations to extended their documents. To date, 21,000 green-card holders remaining in Macedonia have been counted.
• UNHCR reports that the IOM continues to assist the repatriation of Kosovar refugees from non-neighboring countries, in collaboration with the Government of Macedonia (GOM). As of July 9, 631 refugees returned to Macedonia for onward transport to Kosovo, including 166 who arrived from Germany on July 9. IOM and UNHCR report that transport of refugees from host families in Macedonia back to Kosovo will start on July 13.
• UNHCR is finding it increasingly more difficult to monitor refugees returning as border traffic between the FRY and Macedonia returns to normal. UNHCR is concentrating on reporting the number of UNHCR/IOM organized returns as well as returns of the green card holders.
• According to UNHCR, ethnic Albanians from Serbia's western towns of Presevo and Bujanovac (just outside Kosovo) continue to enter Macedonia and report stories of harassment by Serbian police, burning of their homes, and the restriction of their movements within Serbia and of their food purchases. Anywhere from a few ethnic Albanians to several hundred arrive each day in the Macedonian municipality of Tabanovce. UNHCR has also received reports that 400 to 500 ethnic Albanians have been barred from returning to rebuild burned homes in nine villages in Presevo.
• On July 9, UNHCR informed NGOs in Macedonia that Stenkovec II will be "emptied" by July 19. By July 25, UNHCR plans to use this camp for Roma and Serb minorities from Serbia and Kosovo. UNHCR expects to keep Cegrane and Neprosteno camps open until the end of September. Senokos camp will close on July 31.
• The Norwegian Red Cross (NRC) reports it will close its field hospital in Cegrane effective July 31. Inpatient health care will no longer be available after that date but UNHCR is encouraging all remaining patients to return to Kosovo as primary and secondary health care is now available there.
• Although the UNHCR/IOM humanitarian evacuation program is officially closed, UNHCR reports it may continue to evacuate some medical cases, with a focus on refugees who require tertiary care (e.g. cardio vascular disease.) UNHCR is also attempting to establish a tracking system for referrals of refugees to state hospitals, in response to a request from the Government of Macedonia (GOM).
• According to a WHO/UNHCR/NGO joint health needs assessment of refugees in host families conducted in early June, 80 percent of refugees have access to safe water and sanitation services. Access to health care varies among regions but in areas with an ethnic Albanian majority, the state health system is the first provider of health care for refugees in host families. In mixed areas such as Skopje and Kumanovo, the proportion of refugees using the state system is much smaller and complaints about cost of care are more frequent. Refugees in these areas reported being refused access to state system and more bureaucratic difficulties.

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

Source: UNHCR Skopje.

Montenegro

• UNHCR reports that 2,000 Kosovars returned to Kosovo between July 9 and 11, bringing the overall returns to 47,500. UNHCR revised its estimates for Montenegro to show that 47,500 Kosovars have returned to Kosovo, compared to a previous count of 50,500. This reflects the fact that several thousand refugees have gone into Kosovo on assessment visits and returned to Montenegro.
• Approximately 33,000 displaced remain in Montenegro and an additional 21,000 mainly Serbian and Roma people from Kosovo have arrived there in recent weeks.

Commodities

• No new information.

Financial Support

• To date, the U.S. Government (USG) has provided over $242 million in response to the Kosovo crisis since March 1998.

USAID/BHR	$107,560,393
State/PRM	$89,968,905
DOD	$45,281,000
TOTAL	$242,810,298