A digest of the latest refugee news,
as reported by the world's media.

KOSOVO: UN MISSION SET TO LEAVE 7 May 1999 – Yugoslavia is to allow a United Nations humanitarian mission to visit Kosovo, reports BBC News. Conditions there remain a mystery, but refugees have told relief agencies that security forces have been destroying food stocks to make them leave. Sergio Vieira De Mello, UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, said permission for the visit had been given through Yugoslavia's UN envoy. An advance team is preparing to leave for Belgrade. It will include representatives of UNICEF, UNHCR and OCHA. It will make preparations for the arrival of a larger team, which intends to see conditions in Kosovo and other parts of Serbia. The mission is expected to report to the Secretary-General by 13 May – the day fixed for a meeting of all UN agencies involved in the Kosovo refugee crisis. UNHCR has expressed fears for the fate of displaced Kosovo Albanians still inside the province. It is not known how many refugees are in Kosovo. Reuters reports the UN said Belgrade yesterday approved unconditionally a UN humanitarian mission that Secretary-General Kofi Annan wants to send to Kosovo and other parts of Yugoslavia to see what refugees need to return to their homes. [Belgrade allows UN Kosovo mission – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Belgrade agrees to UN mission to Kosovo – www.reuters.com]

KOSOVO: STRANDED NEAR MACEDONIA 7 May 1999 – Thousands of ethnic Albanians trying to flee Kosovo were left stranded in a border village yesterday after Macedonian authorities blocked the refugee exodus in an apparent move to force more international assistance, reports AP. But UNHCR officials claimed Macedonia reneged on promises to keep its borders clear. A formal protest was drafted to demand the government reopen the frontier. "This is blackmail with people's lives," said UNHCR official Louis Gentile, standing at the nearly deserted Blace border post. Those crossing said thousands of refugees were stranded in the Kosovo border village of Djeneral Jankovic. Many were in homes, but some were forced to sleep outside. A trainload of refugees arriving early yesterday at the border and its occupants were told to remain on board, they said. "I deeply regret this step has been taken," added the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson. Reuters reports UNHCR said Serb authorities sent a train packed with Kosovan refugees back into the shattered heart of Kosovo yesterday from the closed border crossing. [Thousands reportedly stranded at Kosovo border village – www.ap.org; Serbs said to turn back refugee train from border – www.reuters.com]

KOSOVO: RESOLUTION IN PRINCIPLE 7 May 1999 – The United States and its allies reached agreement with Russia yesterday on a set of principles for resolving the Kosovo conflict that include the key NATO demand for an international military force and an offer to Belgrade of continued sovereignty over Kosovo, reports the Washington Post. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright insisted any international force would require a substantial NATO component to provide credible safety guarantees for refugees returning to their homes. NATO's position received the backing yesterday of Ibrahim Rugova, Kosovo's most prominent moderate ethnic Albanian politician, in Rome, one day after he was allowed to leave Pristina with his family. "To fill up Kosovo again, given the tragic situation of today, there must be an international force for peace, including the forces of NATO and other countries," Rugova said. In an op-ed for The Times, British Prime Minister Tony Blair says an international force, like the one we now have in Bosnia, must be allowed in so that the refugees can go home and live in safety while the international community oversees the running of Kosovo. There can be no compromise. AP says the new plan is designed to win over Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic while ensuring ethnic Albanian refugees can return to their homes in safety. [Allies, Russia Set Kosovo Formula – www.washingtonpost.com; Nato's Accord With Russia Leaves Unanswered Questions – www.nytimes.com; UN role raises questions about NATO's authority – www.ap.org]

KOSOVO: RETURN WILL BE DIFFICULT 7 May 1999 – Many of those who will be returning to Kosovo have been deliberately stripped by the Serbs of their papers, and their every documented legal claim on what they once owned, and their every connection with where they lived, reports the Independent. This makes even the basic task of returning more than 800,000 displaced people to their homes a potential administrative nightmare. The land itself, according to refugee and eyewitness accounts, is a wasteland. After the orgy of destruction, livestock roams the countryside untended. This year's crops have not been planted. And then there are the human problems, of coaxing Serbs and Albanians to co-exist in peace. The effort will fall into several phases: The first consists of recreating an environment in which people can live at all. This means demining, and making safe buildings and factories booby-trapped in anticipation of a Nato ground invasion. It also means providing basic accommodation, food and a subsistence income to people who have lost everything. The medium term relief effort must set about the rebuilding of towns and villages. Humanitarian issues and policing would be looked after by the United Nations and its agencies. The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe would oversee the rebuilding of Kosovo's institutions, while the European Union would take the lead in promoting longer term economic recovery. [Nightmare of a ruined land lies in wait – www.independent.co.uk]

KOSOVANS: CLINTON VOWS 'SAFE, FREE' RETURNS 7 May 1999 – President Clinton, meeting for the first time with refugees from the Kosovo crisis, vowed yesterday that they will be able to return to their war-torn province "in safety and in freedom," reports the Washington Post. At a refugee centre in Ingelheim, near Frankfurt, Clinton spoke with several groups of ethnic Albanian refugees. In frequently emotional encounters the president listened sympathetically, explained the limits of international relief efforts, and urged the refugees not to yield to despair and hatred in the wake of their experiences. "It is very important that every freedom-loving person in the entire world know the story of Kosovo," the president told nearly 300 refugees. "To those of you who told us the stories of your lives – the heartbreak, the nightmare, the cruelty. . . . I listened very carefully to all of you." Clinton said the "ethnic cleansing" carried out by forces loyal to Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic "must be opposed, resisted, reversed." Moments later, he acknowledged that some of the damage is irreversible. But Milosevic "has not succeeded in erasing your identity from the pages of history, and he will not succeed in erasing your presence from the land of your parents and grandparents." The Daily Telegraph also reports. [Clinton Says Refugees To Return Safe, Free – www.washingtonpost.com; Clinton tells refugees they will return home – www.telegraph.co.uk]

KOSOVANS: 'THIRSTY FOR JUSTICE' 7 May 1999 – Refugees from Kosovo are "thirsty for justice," the United Nations' top human rights official said yesterday, reports AP. She promised to tell Serb leaders face-to-face that they will be held accountable for ethnic cleansing. Mary Robinson, UN high commissioner for human rights, plans to visit Belgrade by next week. Her trip has included meetings with Kosovo refugees in Macedonia and Albania. "The refugees are thirsty for justice and accountability," she said. "It is too late to prevent the current catastrophe, but we owe it to the survivors and the victims to make sure that the ethnic cleansers of today have no impunity tomorrow." She also said she wants to impress upon Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic that his security forces are being held responsible for massive ethnic cleansing in Kosovo, and that the international community has rejected Serb claims that the exodus was prompted by NATO bombing. "Every family has told me they did not leave because of the bombing . . . They left because they were driven out," she said. [Kosovo refugees ``thirsty for justice,'' says U.N. rights official – www.ap.org]

KOSOVANS: US AID APPROVED 7 May 1999 – The US House of Representatives, revealing deep ambivalence towards the Yugoslav conflict, yesterday approved a US$12.9bn package for a military campaign it has refused to back, reports AFP. The budget approved yesterday includes some US$566m in aid to Kosovo refugees and the countries bordering Yugoslavia that harbour them. [Congress approves billions of dollars for Kosovo conflict – www.afp.com]

MACEDONIA: BORDER REOPENED 7 May 1999 – The Macedonian government says it has reopened its border to Kosovan refugees, but insists other countries must do more to help it cope, reports BBC News. The Blace border crossing was closed at 5pm on Wednesday, with Macedonia saying it could not cope with the refugee influx. But sources in Skopje now say the border was only closed briefly to highlight the huge numbers of refugees it is obliged to accept. Macedonia has reassured UNHCR it will continue to take refugees. The interior minister told UNHCR's special envoy, Dennis McNamara, that it was the Yugoslav side of the border which was closed. But UNCHR is still keen to know what happened to the 1,000 Albanians who were turned back into Kosovo. Reuters reports UNHCR said yesterday it had received assurances from the Macedonian government the border would be open to all refugees. "UNHCR welcomes the verbal assurances from the government and trusts this policy will be honoured on the ground," it said. AFP reports UNHCR yesterday said re-opening the border to refugees was "a matter of life or death" for many of them. [Macedonia re-opens border – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Macedonia says border open to all – UNHCR – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Reopening Macedonian border "life or death" for refugees: UNHCR – www.afp.com]

MACEDONIA: CLOSED BORDER TACTIC 7 May 1999 – Macedonia has learnt how to get the West to do what it wants – simply close the door to Kosovan refugees, says Reuters. Western analysts said yesterday Macedonia's abrupt closing of its borders to Kosovo refugees was designed to speed up foreign aid and force a decision on evacuating tens of thousands of refugees to third countries. They suspected it would work. "They have used this tactic before and they know it works," one analyst said. "They get criticised for it ... but they know they will be forgiven." Western officials said Macedonia's move was triggered by two concerns – that neither financial aid to pay for the crisis nor plans to transport the refugees out of the country, particularly to Albania, were moving fast enough. Macedonia, which sometimes acts as if it expects a cheque to accompany a pledge, says little money has been arriving and it needs it now. Macedonia also has been furious that a planned airlift of refugees to third countries has been running behind schedule. Negotiations for Albania to take as many as 60,000 of Macedonia's refugees have also moved slowly. Albania is said to be angry with Macedonia for the way it has treated the refugees. The government in Skopje blames the West and aid agencies for not caring and says only Macedonia has been bearing the burden. [Macedonia rattles West by closing borders – www.reuters.com]

MACEDONIA: TRANSFER TO ALBANIA 'NOT HAPPENING' 7 May 1999 – UNHCR yesterday said it plans to ease the burden on Macedonia by transferring up to 60,000 Kosovo refugees to Albania were being held up by political and logistical problems, reports Reuters. "The movement to Albania, for the time being, is not happening and it's not even a done deal," UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski told a news briefing in Geneva. UNHCR said on Tuesday it planned the switch as a "last resort" to ease overcrowding in Macedonian camps. The move had been scheduled to begin yesterday or the day before. But Janowski said one problem was that UNHCR wanted those refugees who moved to Albania to remain eligible for evacuation to a third country if they wanted to go. Albania had so far been unwilling to offer this guarantee, he said. Janowski said the plan to transfer large numbers of refugees to Albania also faced considerable logistical difficulties. At the moment, Albania had capacity to take only around 6,000 refugees in the Lake Ochrid area, where NATO has been helping to build a new camp. "We have to remember that Albania may seem to be a sort of golden solution because there's no political opposition in Albania to receiving Kosovo refugees. But there's the logistics," Janowski said. "They've taken more than 400,000 people and they're basically swamped." [Planned refugee transfer to Albania stalled – UNHCR – www.reuters.com]

ALBANIA: KOSOVANS WON'T LEAVE KUKES 7 May 1999 – Despite many problems with the camps, officials and relief workers cannot get the more than 100,000 Kosovo Albanians in the Kukes region to leave, reports AP. They fear any number of calamitous scenarios Serb shelling of crammed refugee camps, escalating crime and violence, overwhelmed services resulting in shortages of water and other essentials. Most refugees say they want to wait for relatives still coming from Kosovo, or they want to stay close to their homeland. Relief workers say another big reason never admitted by the refugees is they have loved ones fighting for the Kosovo Liberation Army and want to support them if needed. UNHCR insists the Kukes refugees should move and has started talks with Albanian officials on closing or moving camps. But Tirana is full of refugees already, and most of the 30,000 people living in Kukes-area camps prefer to stay put instead of heading to unknown camps elsewhere. More than 70,000 others absorbed into homes and apartments in the Kukes community also were unlikely to leave on their own. [Despite problems, refugees aren't leaving Kukes – www.ap.org]

ALBANIA: $30m LOAN APPROVED 7 May 1999 – The World Bank approved a US$30m loan for Albania yesterday and said the money would help Europe's poorest country deal with problems caused by a flood of Kosovo refugees, reports Reuters. A World Bank statement said the money, to be repaid over 40 years after a 10 year grace period, would ensure that Albania's economic reform programme was not derailed by its costly efforts to help the refugees. "The credit will provide quick-disbursing budget support ... to allow for the unbudgeted expenditures incurred as a result of the massive inflow of refugees since March 1999," the statement said. The loan is the World Bank's first major financial contribution to the crisis in Kosovo. [World Bank lends Albania $30 mln for refugee aid – www.reuters.com]

EUROPE: MORE ACCEPTED, SOME ARRIVE 7 May 1999 – Germany will accept 10,000 more Kosovo refugees, the first to arrive next week, the federal interior ministry announced yesterday, reports AFP. Of this figure, 5,000 will be taken in immediately and a further 5,000 once other EU member nations have fulfilled their quotas, the interior ministries of the various German states decided. The 10,000 will come from Macedonia. AFP adds Denmark is prepared to double the number of Kosovo Albanian refugees it has agreed to receive, and is taking steps to speed up the registration process in Macedonia, Interior Minister Thorkild Simonsen said yesterday. The previously agreed figure was 1,500 refugees, of which 300 have arrived so far. AP reports a group of 160 refugees from Kosovo arrived yesterday in Lisbon and were driven by bus to two shelters in northern Portugal. AP also reports Slovak media yesterday said the first group of ethnic Albanian refugees from Kosovo has arrived in Slovakia; about 90 people, primarily the elderly, women and children arrived in Bratislava late Wednesday. [Germany to accept 10,000 more Kosovo refugees + Denmark set to double Kosovar refugee quota – www.afp.com; First Kosovo refugees arrive in Portugal + First group of Kosovo refugees arrives in Slovakia – www.ap.org]

YUGOSLAVIA: '110,000 DISPLACED' 7 May 1999 – More then 110,000 displaced people from Kosovo have fled to the other parts of Serbia and to the neighbouring Yugoslav republic of Montenegro since the start of NATO air raids, news agency reports said yesterday, reports AFP in Belgrade. Citing a statement by the Serbian Red Cross, Beta agency said "41,236 displaced people from Kosovo" had been registered in Serbia proper since the beginning of NATO's bombing campaign on March 24. In Montenegro, of around "120,000 Kosovo refugees, 70,000 have arrived since the beginning of NATO air strikes," Radovan Mijanovic, president of the Yugoslav Red Cross said. He added that "every eighth person in Montenegro," whose population is about 650,000, "is a refugee." Serbian Red Cross official Radmila Cvetkovic said that, beside those displaced from Kosovo, "several hundreds of thousands left their homes in Serbia... going to the areas not affected by the NATO aggression," Beta reported. According to Cvetkovic, "around three million people" were in need of social welfare assistance. [110,000 displaced from Kosovo in Serbia and Montenegro: report – www.afp.com]

BOSNIA: FEWER YUGOSLAV MUSLIMS ARRIVE 7 May 1999 – UNHCR yesterday said the number of Muslim refugees arriving in Bosnia from Yugoslavia's Sanjak region had declined sharply in recent days, but it was not clear why, reports Reuters. "The number of Sanjak refugees and FRY (Yugoslav) refugees have dropped significantly in recent days," said UNHCR spokeswoman Wendy Rappeport. Sanjak lies between Serbia and Montenegro. Rappeport said 20,000 Sanjak Muslims were currently in Bosnia, where many from the Sanjak region have relatives. There are also 17,600 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in Bosnia, but 13,000 of those had already arrived before the NATO bombing campaign started on March 24, she said. Reuters adds acting European Union humanitarian aid commissioner Emma Bonino yesterday promised more aid to Bosnia to help it cope with an influx of refugees since the start of the Kosovo crisis. "The commitment for 1999 will be increased," she told a news conference, adding that the extent of the increase had not been decided. [Fewer Yugoslav Moslems fleeing to Bosnia – UNHCR + Bonino pledges aid for refugees in Bosnia – www.reuters.com]

This document is intended for public information purposes only. It is not an official UN document.