| KOSOVANS: MOST HAVE RETURNED
21 Jul. 99 – Most ethnic Albanian refugees are back in Kosovo and the daily influx from
neighbouring countries is winding down, UN officials said yesterday, reports AP.
More than 800,000 Kosovo Albanians fled Kosovo this spring during NATO airstrikes and Serb
repression. Nearly 700,000 have now returned, UNHCR said. UNHCR plans to close four of the
six remaining refugee camps in Macedonia this week, including two at Stenkovec. About
29,000 Kosovo refugees remain in Macedonia, including 8,300 in camps, said spokeswoman
Maki Shinohara. In Albania, most camps have been emptied but a steady stream of Albanians
still head home daily. Many come from abroad and arrive in Albania by ferry from Italy
with cars. UNHCR said they are often harassed, robbed or victimised by extortion en route
across Albania. "All we can do is advise them to stick together to make this sort of
extortion attack less likely," said spokesman Kris Janowski. Reuters also
reports UNHCR said 6,500 ethnic Albanian refugees had returned from Bosnia's Muslim-Croat federation,
leaving another 14,500 there. AP also reports the first group of Kosovo refugees to
return from Switzerland, some 90 people, flew to Macedonia yesterday on their way home.
[Refugee return to Kosovo winding down + First Kosovo refugees return from Switzerland
– www.ap.org; UN says 6,500 Kosovans returned home
from Bosnia – www.reuters.com] KOSOVANS: EC APPROVES MORE AID 21 Jul. 99 – The
European Commission yesterday approved a further US$198m to help refugees from the Kosovo conflict, reports AP.
The money will be used to provide building materials and basic commodities such as beds,
mattresses, blankets and stoves to some 600,000 refugees who have returned to Kosovo. The
European Union executive body said the material would help returnees who found their homes
damaged or looted to start repairs and waterproof homes before winter. Some money will
also go to help about 100,000 Serb and Gypsy refugees who have fled Kosovo more recently,
it said. Still more will support refugees remaining in Albania, Montenegro and Macedonia,
and help vulnerable groups among the local population in those nations. But Reuters
reports the EC said it would release US$151.5m in humanitarian aid for the refugees. [EU
clears more aid for Kosovo – www.ap.org; EU plans
further aid for Albanian, Serb refugees – www.reuters.com]
ITALY: MORE KOSOVO GYPSIES ARRIVE 21 Jul. 99 –
More than 500 Kosovo Gypsies arrived aboard a fishing ship at the Italian port of Brindisi
yesterday after crossing the Adriatic from the Yugoslav republic of Montenegro, reports Reuters.
Italian port officials said 541 people, many of them children, were on the boat named
Andrea, which was escorted into the port by an Italian frigate. Nearly all the refugees
appeared in good health, officials said. They were taken to makeshift reception centres to
await a decision on their future. The influx came just a day after some 760 refugees from
Yugoslavia arrived in Brindisi aboard another fishing boat. More than 100,000 Serbs and
Gypsies, fearing reprisals, have fled Kosovo since NATO peacekeepers arrived and ethnic
Albanians returned. [Kosovo gypsies arrive in Italy on refugee boat – www.reuters.com]
ITALY: NOW CLOSED TO KOSOVANS 21 Jul. 99 –
Italy ended its wartime sanctuary for Kosovar
refugees yesterday and said future newcomers would be sent home immediately, reports AP.
Italy accepted refugees from Kosovo during the war, but it has been less welcoming of the
Gypsies arriving since the war ended. Thousands have come in recent weeks. Italy's
Interior Ministry called it an "immigration emergency." The crackdown represents
"a strong commitment of the government against the trafficking of human beings in the
Adriatic, which in recent days has concerned citizens of ethnic Rom origin from
Montenegro," officials said in a statement. As of yesterday, new arrivals will be
sent back to their country of origin by the same means by which they came, or otherwise
expelled, the government said. It said the action was in accord with agreements with the
Yugoslav republic. AFP reports Italy decided the immigrants who arrive daily on its
coasts would no longer be regarded as refugees but as illegal immigrants. [War over, Italy
closes shores to refugees from across the Adriatic – www.ap.org;
Italy says Kosovars no longer refugees but illegal immigrants – www.afp.com]
MACEDONIA: MORE KOSOVO GYPSIES LIKELY – UNHCR
21 Jul. 99 – UNHCR said yesterday the number of Gypsy refugees fleeing from Kosovo to Macedonia in fear of ethnic
Albanian revenge attacks might increase, reports Reuters. "In the coming few
weeks we are concerned that many more Romas might come to Macedonia. Many of those people
living in different pockets in Kosovo are in a very dire situation," said UNHCR
spokeswoman Maki Shinohara. Groups of Gypsies in Stimlje, Kosovo Polje, Djakovica, Istok
and Mitrovica fearing vengeance for their alleged collaboration with Serb troops have
requested NATO-led KFOR peacekeepers to move them to safer places, she said. Some 400
Gypsy refugees are now sheltered at a centre near Skopje, in Dare Bombo. In the past two
days 160 Gypsies have crossed into Macedonia, she added. Shinohara said the Serb minority
in Pristina and Prizren were also under attack. [UNHCR says more Gypsy refugees may flee
Kosovo – www.reuters.com]
MONTENEGRO: KOSOVO GYPSIES RISK DISEASES 21 Jul. 99
– Several cases of tuberculosis and diarrhoea have been recorded in a makeshift camp
housing thousands of Roma refugees who have fled Kosovo, Montenegrin health officials
said yesterday, reports AP. Some 7,500 Roma, or Gypsies, live in the tent city just
southwest of Podgorica. The camp was built on a former garbage dump and has no running
water or toilets. Dr. Ivo Djurisic, a local health official, said "several"
cases of tuberculosis and 46 cases of children suffering from diarrhoea have been recorded
in the camp because of dismal sanitary conditions. "There is even a danger of a
cholera epidemic that could threaten Podgorica if health conditions in the camp are not
improved soonest," Djurisic said. [Tuberculosis recorded in makeshift Gypsy camp in
Montenegro – www.ap.org]
SERBIA: KOSOVANS' SITUATION 'CRITICAL' – UNHCR 21
Jul. 99 – UNHCR warned yesterday of a critical situation in several central Serbian
towns carrying most of the displaced people from Kosovo, reports Reuters.
"Their accommodation is completely unsuitable, they are put up mostly in schools
without adequate plumbing or any other facilities," said UNHCR's Vesna Petkovic. The
flow of Serbs and Gypsies fearing ethnic Albanian revenge comes on top of an already heavy
refugee burden from earlier ethnic conflicts, amid reluctance on the part of the West to
help. Most of the displaced have found refuge in central and southern Serbia, apparently
to be closer to Kosovo. "The most critical situation is in the towns of Kraljevo,
Kragujevac and several others in the area which have accommodated the largest number of
refugees," Petkovic said. She said Serbia had around 150,000 people from Kosovo. The
Yugoslav Red Cross, which puts the number of displaced Kosovans at about 100,000 in
Serbia, said it was having problems helping them because "very little aid is coming
in for them." Meanwhile BBC News reports UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said
humanitarian aid to Serbia should include repairing water supplies and hospitals to try to
prevent an exodus of Serbs from high unemployment, a wrecked infrastructure and the coming
winter. [UNHCR warns of critical refugee problem in Serbia – www.reuters.com; Serb exodus warning – http://news.bbc.co.uk]
This document is intended for public information
purposes only. It is not an official UN document. |
Document compiled by Dr S D Stein