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

KOSOVO: MORE RETURN THAN EXPECTED 23 Jun. 99 – The number of refugees flooding back into Kosovo is expected to hit 200,000 only 10 days after the KFOR peacekeeping operation was launched, catching humanitarian aid workers unprepared, reports AFP. "The stream of refugees returning to Kosovo showed no signs of abating . . . The UNHCR expects the figure of refugees to top 200,000 by the end of today," said UN spokesman Fred Eckhard yesterday. Some 175,000 refugees have so far returned to Kosovo, he said, noting that Pristina is back to almost half its normal population. "We were expecting about 400,000 – which is about half the total refugee population in the area – to return in the first three months and what we've had is about 170,000 in the first 10 days," said UNHCR spokeswoman Paula Ghedini. To cope, officials from humanitarian agencies met in Skopje yesterday to try to piece together a repatriation plan and look at "how quickly we can move people back to at least the urban areas," Ghedini said. BBC News reports UNHCR said more than 33,000 ethnic Albanians had crossed into Kosovo on Monday alone. Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports UNHCR yesterday said Kosovan refugees are pouring across the Albanian border at 1,000 per hour. [Refugee flow into Kosovo heavier than expected – www.afp.com; Refugees flooding back into Kosovo – http://news.bbc.co.uk; 1,000 refugees per hour pour back to Kosovo from Albania – www.dpa.com]

ALBANIA: BORDER CAMPS ALMOST EMPTY 23 Jun. 99 – The last three camps set up at Kukes on the Albanian border to house refugees from Kosovo were virtually deserted yesterday after displaced families flooded back home, reports AFP. Tens of thousands of refugees lived there at the height of the NATO campaign against Yugoslavia, but the number had dwindled to a handful yesterday. Dozens of tents remain in place, ready to shelter Kosovo refugees returning from southern Albania. [Kosovar camps in Albania deserted as refugees flood back home – www.afp.com]

MONTENEGRO: FIRST RETURNS 23 Jun. 99 – Ethnic Albanians who took refuge in Montenegro started returning to their homes in western Kosovo yesterday, most of them to the city of Pec, reports AP. Nearly 2,000 crossed over Monday. It was the first mass return of the 80,000 ethnic Albanian refugees believed to have fled to Montenegro after the Serbs intensified their crackdown following the start of NATO's bombing campaign March 24. Many of those returning were men who said they went only to check out the state of their homes and of the city. Some planned to return to comparative safety over the border for the time being until conditions here stabilise. [Ethnic Albanians coming home from Montenegro – www.ap.org]

MACEDONIA: CLINTON WELCOMED AT CAMP 23 Jun. 99 – Choking back tears, US President Bill Clinton ran a gauntlet of hugs, kisses and heartbreaking tales of horror from grateful Kosovo refugees during a visit to Stenkovec camp in Macedonia yesterday, reports Reuters. BBC News reports Clinton was given a warm welcome by thousands of refugees at the camp. He told the crowd that he did not want another child injured because of a premature return to Kosovo. He urged patience and asked them to give K-For time to clear landmines and other unexploded ordnance. The New York Times reports Clinton yesterday came to meet face-to-face with the people on whose behalf he had fought the war in Kosovo. He heard their stories of brutality and vowed that he would help make their homeland safe. The Washington Post adds the refugees also voiced frustration that NATO's decision to act did not come sooner or protect them from atrocities at the hands of Yugoslav security forces. Meanwhile AP reports Clinton met with Balkan leaders yesterday to thank them for supporting NATO's air campaign and helping Kosovo's refugees. He promised international assistance to promote stability in the region. [Clinton hears harrowing tales from Kosovo refugees – www.reuters.com; Be patient, Clinton urges refugees – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Clinton Meets Refugees, and Pledges to Aid Kosovo – www.nytimes.com; President Visits With Refugees – www.washingtonpost.com; Clinton thanks Balkans for help, offers aid – www.ap.org]

EUROPE: 30% MORE YUGOSLAV APPLICANTS 23 Jun. 99 – The number of Yugoslavs, mostly from Kosovo, seeking asylum in European countries jumped 30% in May over April to reach more than 12,000, UNHCR said yesterday, reports AFP in Geneva. A total of 12,259 applications were filed in May in the 22 countries for which figures are available, compared with 9,403 in April, UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said. The total in the first five months of this year was nearly 48,000, compared with a tally of 98,000 in 1998, said UNHCR. Germany and Switzerland are by far the most popular asylum choices, accounting for a combined 54% of all applications in the January-May period. Switzerland, just one-tenth the size of Germany, received just under 27% compared to 27.2% for the larger country. Next in line were Austria and Belgium, both receiving 7.8% of all asylum applications this year. [Yugoslav asylum applications in Europe jump 30 percent – www.afp.com]

Serbs

KOSOVO: SERBS RETURNING 23 Jun. 99 – Hundreds of ethnic Serb refugees who fled in fear of their lives headed back to Kosovo yesterday but Serbian officials said some were going to camps, not their homes, reports Reuters. On the third day of a government-organised effort to send Kosovo Serbs back, hundreds boarded buses or loaded their cars and tractors with free fuel and headed south. Government officials who accompanied the refugees said some would be housed in camps in two towns in northern Kosovo until it was safe to return to their homes. AFP reports Montenegrin radio and Tanjug news agency said about 500 Serbs who had fled to Serbia yesterday returned to Kosovo. BBC News adds NATO says 2,000 Serbs have returned to Kosovo in about 48 hours. Gen. Sir Mike Jackson, K-For's commander, confirmed an increasing number of Serbs were returning. He estimated about a third of Kosovo's Serbs made their escape as Serb forces pulled out. "Over the past two to three days, there are increasing numbers who are now coming back – from which I take some encouragement," said Gen Jackson. [Kosovo Serbs head back, but some will go to camps – www.reuters.com; 500 Serbs return to Kosovo from Montenegro and Serbia – www.afp.com; Serb refugees return to Kosovo – http://news.bbc.co.uk]

KOSOVO: SERBS KILLED, UNHCR CONCERNED 23 Jun. 99 – Two Serb civilians were found dead on Monday in the southern town of Prizren, UNHCR said yesterday, reports Deutsche Presse-Agentur. A Serb woman was found decapitated in her house and a man was dead from a knife wound in the neck, a UNHCR spokesman said. BBC News reports UNHCR says it is deeply concerned for the safety of those Serbs who have chosen to remain. Some have barricaded themselves into their homes, too scared to go out despite the presence of K-For troops on the streets. But Reuters reports UNHCR has advised Serbs who fled to wait for things to calm. "Some areas are extremely tense and (Serbs) returning now would only escalate the situation," said UNHCR spokeswoman Paula Ghedini. Emotions are running high as hundreds of thousands of Albanians who were forced out by Serb forces flood back to the province to find looted homes, burned-out villages and mass graves. [Two Serb civilians killed in Kosovo – www.dpa.com; Serbs 'killed in revenge attack' – http://news.bbc.co.uk; Kosovo's once-ruling Serbs now refugees – www.reuters.com]

SERBIA: DISPLACED DISSIDENTS JAILED 23 Jun. 99 – Two Kosovo Serb refugees who led protest rallies in Belgrade against their treatment by the Serbian authorities after fleeing the province were jailed for 30 days yesterday in a further clampdown on dissent, reports the Daily Telegraph. Their imprisonment came as many refugees claimed they were being coerced to return against their will to Kosovo, where President Slobodan Milosevic had pledged to defend them against the ethnic Albanians. They said they were warned that they would have no jobs, accommodation and medical care if they remained in Serbia. Svetozar Fisic and Slobodan Karalajic were arrested Monday when police broke up a second day of protests by refugees in Belgrade, immediately put on trial and jailed, said the opposition Democratic Party of Serbia. [Dissident leaders jailed – www.telegraph.co.uk]

Roma

KOSOVO: GYPSIES EXPELLED, RETURNED, IN LIMBO 23 Jun. 99 – Gypsies trying to flee Kosovo were turned back by Serb officials yesterday and told to return to Pristina, reports the Guardian. Communities of gypsies, or Roma, have been targeted for reprisals by returning Albanians, who perceive them as having sided with the Serbs during the war and the repressive rule preceding it. Some gypsies were reported to have taken part in war crimes alongside Serb police. Now the Roma find themselves with no home and no friends. About 800 of them were sheltering yesterday in a school in the Serb town of Kosovo Polje, not knowing what to do or where to go next. UNHCR spokeswoman Paula Ghedini expressed concern for the future of the returning gypsies. "They're not seen as part of the Serb community, so they're marginalised. As far as the Kosovans are concerned, the Roma not only took part in military activities but in atrocities. So it's going to be very bad." Many of the gypsies in Kosovo Polje came from the town of Obilic, just north of Pristina, where their homes have been ransacked by angry returning refugees. The gypsy shantytown was deserted yesterday. The Christian Science Monitor reports tens of thousands of gypsies who lived in Kosovo are in a state of dangerous limbo. [Gypsies find themselves in no man's land – www.guardian.co.uk; Kosovo Gypsies caught between Serbs, Albanians – www.csmonitor.com]

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