Action by Churches Together (ACT) Sitrep - Balkans Appeal EUBK01 - Kosovo/FRY - No 8/2000 Situation Report F.R.Y./Kosovo As at 30 June 2000
General situation MONTENEGRO The US has extended sanctions against FRY and Republika Srpska. The President's Decree, sent to Congress in mid-May 2000, states that the FRY had not fulfilled obligations from the Dayton Agreement on Bosnia and Herzegovina, which, together with the international crisis in Kosovo, made for an environment which threatened national security, foreign policy interests and the US economy. President Clinton's Decree confirms that Montenegro, as well as issues around the refugees from Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo, is to be 'specially treated'. Decrees that enable the sale of agricultural products, medicines, and certain medical equipment to Yugoslavia have been prolonged, provided that they are not used for the military, paramilitary or political needs of the Milosevic regime. The foreign ministers of the European Union have begun discussing mechanisms for the provision of additional assistance to Montenegro, including EUR 50 million in loans from the European Investment Bank for macro-economic projects. The European Commission has already approved EUR 20 million unspecified budget support to the Montenegrin government. With DM4.20 million in German financing and equipment, a Bijelo Polje factory has been re-tooled to begin producing mineral water and fruit drinks. An American firm will take delivery of a trial sample of thirty thousand bottles fueling speculation that American consumers will eventually be targetted. Despite a bilateral agreement signed in late March 2000 between Montenegrin and Albanian officials, the military checkpoint at the Bozaj border continues to prevent commercial trucks from crossing. This has affected the Obod factory (in Cetinje) which produces refrigerators, ovens and other household appliances, preventing it from expanding its export capacities. A request made to the Second Army for permission to send samples to interested retailers in Albania was denied, citing a 'Federal Government Decree'. Albania has an estimated absorption capacity of 10,000 of Obod's refrigerators. The US ship 'Sabina Philadelphia' entered the Port of Bar in late May 2000 with 35,000 MT of wheat from the US Government. This bilateral donation follows Montenegrin Premier Filip Vujanovic's visit to Washington DC in 1999. The trade blockade between Montenegro and Serbia, which was introduced on 2 February 2000 by Serbian decree, is gradually being lifted. Trucks transporting mineral water and milk, then furniture and raw materials for the iron factory in Niksic have begun passing the checkpoint. Trucks exporting coal and chip wood from Pljevlja also crossed the border into Serbia. However, six thousand copies of the Serbian (opposition) daily newspaper 'Blic', which were printed in Montenegro, were confiscated by the police. The Croatian foreign affairs minister is to come to Podgorica following an invitation from the Montenegrin foreign ministry and is expected to meet with the highest state officials. Special emphasis was placed on border policies especially in relation to Debeli Brijeg. SERBIA The New York Times has asserted that Wahington is considering allowing Milosevic to take sanctuary in a sympathetic country if he agrees to be removed from power. Analysts in the region speculate that the article was 'planted' in order to assess the reactions of all parties involved before taking negotiations any further. The US Ambassador to the UN Richard Holbrooke has announced a US campaign to eject Yugoslavia from the United Nations. He said it would take effort from all sides to bring about the exclusion, and success was not guaranteed, but that Yugoslavia should make a fresh application to join the UN. "The demands of the Belgrade regime to be treated as the only legitimate successor to the former Yugoslavia are unacceptable," Holbrooke said. Domestic and western media have been documenting the numerous incidents of police detention and beatings of opposition activists, government seizure independent media (followed by clashes between police and demonstrators in central Belgrade), murders of prominent officials and early closure of universities to defuse student activism. Recognising the need to preserve the purchasing power of the low-income population and enable the purchase of basic food items, the Serbian government has instigated a policy of strict price control over staple food items. According to OCHA, over seventy percent of the average salary is needed merely to meet a family's monthly basic food requirements at state-subsidised prices (availability at these artificially low prices is extremely limited). The impact of rising food costs, political chaos and independent media blackout have contributed more to a feeling of hopelessness than discontent in the local population. Despite official optimism, independent experts are concerned about the inadequate domestic supply of basic food items. They fear, for instance, that last year's harvests of sugar and edible oil may be insufficient to meet domestic needs through the next harvest. KOSOVO The Institute of War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) has issued an article criticising the UN's performance in Kosovo. According to IWPR, a year into its tenure in Kosovo, the UN is failing Kosovars, with few of its goals having been achieved. "Efforts to promote stability in the province are running out of steam", says Llazar Semini, IWPR Project Manager in Pristina. He cites particular failings: the continuation of ethnic cleansing, little progress in establishing a multi-ethnic Kosovo, the potential for the international community-headed 'local' administration to become a benign dictatorship. There are also severe funding shortages. Semini also reflects that further evidence of the West's diminishing concern for Kosovo is that international institutions are employing unqualified personnel. The chief threats to the future stability of Kosovo a year on from the end of the war are the split of Mitrovica and the unresolved issue of the Albanian prisoners in Serbian gaols, said Albanian leader Hashim Thaci last week. Meanwhile, international commentator Misha Glenny says that Macedonia's future stability is linked closely to events in Kosovo: "Europe and the US fear that the independence of Kosovo could have an impact in Macedonia as well as the fact that it would strengthen the separatist tendencies of the Albanians in Macedonia", saysGlenny. "For the time being, Kosovo, according to Resolution 1244, is a 'no-man's land ". The international community does not know what to do with Kosovo, being afraid that independence would cause division and separatism, but at the same time it acknowledges that it cannot govern it and that the Albanian majority should start taking responsibility for its territory. "On the other hand, the international community cannot allow the division of the territory because everything is being developed on the principle of multi-ethnicity", concluded Glenny. The delegation of Serbs from Kosovo, led by Bishop Artemije, met US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in Washington on 14 June. They discussed Resolution 1244, particularly regarding protection of the Kosovar Serbs. Ms Albright requested Artemije's National Serb Council to restart their participation in the JIAC and to support the voter registration process. However on 28 June the Serb National Council of Central Kosovo (SNCCK) decided to terminate all contacts with the Serb National Council of Kosovo (SNCK). SNCCK President Slavisa Kostic explained that after Saturday's meeting in Gracaanica, when he and former President of the Council Momcilo Trajkovic had walked out, all contacts with the rest of the SNCK had been broken off. "Members of rthe Serb National Council of Central Kosovo have no reason to communicate with the rest of the Serbian National Council, Kostic said. Milo Djukanovic is understood to be keen to mediate in the talks between Serbs and Albanians in Kosovo, it has been reported in Zeri. UNMIK has announced that it has resumed operations in the northern zone of Mitrovica. Activities had previously been suspended as a protest against attacks on vehicles and employees of international humanitarian organisations in the province. Pensioners in Pristina have been protesting about non-payment of their pensions. UNMIK circulated the following extract from a letter to SRSG Bernard Kouchner from Mikel Ndreca, former Professor and now a pensioner himself: '"A few days' ago my fellow pensioners went out to protest, demanding their pensions. I was not with them, but I supported their demand. I will tell you an old story of ours: Saint Martin, the guardian angel of wolves, had a pill which he gave to the wolves at the beginning of the winter. The wolves ate the pills and made it through winter till springtime when they could find food for themselves. If we, the Kosovar pensioners, had a Saint Martin we would have been much better off and we wouldn't have to visit the garbage dumps in the city." ACT PROGRAMMES SHELTER Kosovo The ACT/UMCOR Shelter Programme, in cooperation with the logistics department, is now managing one of the largest per day rate of construction materials delivered into Kosovo, at 39 trucks in 2 weeks. Around 75 percent of all Programme 2000 Phase 1 materials have been received and nearly 80 percent of this has been distributed. Representatives from the Mother Theresa Society and village lleadership councils have contributed many hours assisting the ACT/UMCOR programme with contacting beneficiaries and distribution in Shipol and Koshtovo. Forty-nine rooves have been completed with tiles and timber from the UMCOR programme. Overall progress with the 2000 Programme continues as planned. As materials arrive (or before), beneficiaries are contacted and organised at depot distribution points in each village. The shelter team has prepared a distribution plan with the village leadership with the goal of delivering materials to the most vulnerable families first. Christian Aid are starting work on 75 severely damaged (Category 5) houses. Staff are currently planning a new intiative, details to be announced soon! In Mitrovica ACT/NCA have two Roma camps. It has been reported that numbers in the camps are rising, with new arrivals coming from Serbia and Montenegro. It is anticipated that up to one thousands Roma will arrive over the summer. NCA is now working with UNHCR to find a location for a third camp for five hundred Roma. FOOD SECURITY AND AGRICULTURE PROGRAMME Kosovo UMCOR is monitoring mended tractors and checking the services being provided to the communities. Another hundred tractors are due to be repaired in the coming months. Over the summer cows and sheep will be purchased for distribution, and UMCOR Agriculture Mitrovica staff are currrently visiting and assessing potential programme participants. So far the villages of Bare, Baijore and Vidishiq have been assessed and 95 families have been selected out of 200 visited WATER/SANITATION Kosovo NCA are receiving and anticipating many demands of an emergency nature, but finding it difficult to get funding for this. In particular there will be many returnees from western Europe in the coming months, and NCA plans to do some much-needed water and sanitation work in the schools. UNICEF Schools' Programme: NCA has been selected as one of 12 leading agencies in the programme for building Category 5 schools. Funding will come from UNICEF. However NCA are still having to reduce programme costs overall, whilst making the transition from emergency to longer-term development. The NCA Decani office continues to repair and extend existing water lines. Kuci families in Decan town have been given a running water connection. The families are living under very hard conditions. In Mitrovica, NCA has cleaned around 380 wells since November last year; in Decani around 1400 wells have been cleaned/chlorinated since July '99. SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT Kosovo Mitrovica ACT/UMCOR has been carrying out initial training with PTA groups in the villages of Shipol, Bare and Bajgora. In Koshtova the Grand Opening of the community centres has taken place and certificates of completion of team building training have been given to participating young people and women. The ceremony attracted village leaders and local media. UMCOR has been encouraged by the many new ideas they are hearing from the groups, showing that they are thinking seriously about how to develop their environment. Life is beginning to normalise in the Roma village in Cesmin Luk. ACT/NCA has been in contact with organisations which can help Roma women to start their own business. 'Kvinna til Kvinna' will open a house close to the camp and start activities there, contributing sewing machines and other equipment. "Humanitaire de France" hope to contribute materials for the women. NCA have been working to make the Roma here independent for a long time and now at last they can see a positive way forward. Many of the men are already employed in different work programmes. However, there are still some tensions around the camp. The Serbs controlled by Oliver Ivanovic are showing up and making problems, with UNMIK police having to intervene, and for this reason NCA has tried to close a shop close to the camp. There are now 269 Romas in the village. MINE ACTION Kosovo ACT/DCA reports that a depleted (but radioactive) uranium round (anti-tank ammunition, primarily used by aircraft to combat armoured vehicles) was found next to the road in Junik. There have been three recent mine accidents, showing the need for a continuing effort by Demining and Mines Awareness Teams. The Mine Action Team is working in Irznitz, Koshare, Don, Pepsh and Pobergje. The latter site is a minefield with fragmentation and blast mines lies on the side of a hill. The area is extremely steep and rocky with small bushes and loose stones. A second training course for new deminers started on 29 May. EMERGENCY DISTRIBUTIONS Serbia IOCC Belgrade has installed plastic greenhouses and chicken cages in private accommodation for refugees and IDPs, trained recipients in food production, and with local organisation 'Philanthropy' has been involved in the repair of a pig farm at the Josanica monastery. IOCC continues to distribute/deliver food and hygiene parcels to refugees, IDPs and the socially deprived. Grants have been made to seven refugee return associations, ten refugee NGO self-help initiatives and 13 community service NGO initiatives. IOCC Belgrade has coordinated the return of 69 refugees to their pre-war homes in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Montenegro IOCC/Podgorica has completed distribution of nine thousand cabbage seedlings, water pumps, hose and pesticides to 39 families in the municipalities of Kolasin and Berane. Restoring Livelihoods Kosovo This ACT/MCIC multi-sectoral programme is comprised of projects covering housing, pu blic infrastructure, social activities, food security (food distribution and agriculture), income generation, civil society, and development and democratisation (capacity building and media). Recent specific activities have included basic skills training for vulnerable groups. Participants are forty-eight children, young people and women from families that have lost family members during the war or who are otherwise vulnerable. MCIC is supporting local NGO 'We Are With You' in reintegration of former war participants. There are three components: post-traumatic treatment, basic skills training (computer and English courses), and vocational training (in baking, car mechanics, waitressing, meat trade and carpentry). In its Resoration of Individual Farmership programme, MCIC is supporting around one thousand families from ten villages in Gjakova municipality, giving them vouchers with a value of 100 or 200 DM for purchasing seeds, fertiliser, hand tools etc. Last year ACT/MCIC supported a local brick factory with a loan. The factory has now started to repay the loan in bricks! Another current exciting MCIC initiative is the training of journalists. This involves training fifteen senior journalists from South-West Kosovo and establishing a school for journalists in Gjakova where the trained senior journalists will give training to young journalists. Training of trainers is being held this month in Sarajevo. OVERVIEW OF ACT RESPONSE: The six implementing partners in Kosovo are the Lutheran World Federation, Christian Aid,United Methodist Committee on Relief, Macedonian Center for International Cooperation, Norwegian Church Aid, and DanChurchAid. Together they constitute the ACT humanitarian response within Kosovo, working in the predominantly rural areas surrounding Mitrovica, Decani, Gjakova, and Rahovec and engaged in shelter and school rehabilitation, winterization, de-mining, well cleaning /water sanitation, agricultural and food assistance, and social/community development. Of the fourteen projects within the current ACT Appeal, four - Hungarian Interchurch Aid, Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization, the International Orthodox Christian Charities and LWF - are focused on assisting internally displaced people, refugees, and others in need within the FRY areas of Vojvodina, Sandzak, Serbia, Montenegro, and Kosovo. Submitted by Jane Connolly, Information Officer: ACT Balkans Phone: 381 38 549 187/188/190; Mobile : +377 44 120 076 Communicators with member agencies should contact this office direct for information about current media opportunities. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Action by Churches Together (ACT) is a worldwide network of churches and their related agencies, meeting human need through co-ordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Ecumenical Centre Phone: ++41-22-791.60.33 150, route de Ferney Fax: ++41-22-791.65.06 1211 Geneva 2 Telex: 415 730 OIK CH Switzerland http://www.act-intl.org distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance Disaster Information Center lists: www.vita.org/listsub.htm sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. Elisabeth Adm. Assistant ACT Coordinating Office