ex-Yugoslavia: Complex - OFDA-02: 31.Jul.97
ex-Yugoslavia: Complex - OFDA-02: 31.Jul.97
U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR)
OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA)
FORMER YUGOSLAVIA - Complex Emergency
Situation Report #2, Fiscal Year (FY) 1997 July 31, 1997
Note: The last BHR/OFDA situation report was dated December 4, 1996.
Background
Many refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) have returned to
Bosnia-Herzegovina (B-H) since the end of the war, and larger population
movements are expected from Eastern Slavonia and Western European countries,
particularly Germany. Ethnic minorities are often harassed or intimidated in
areas where they have remained, and freedom of movement (FOM) remains
limited. Local and international relief agencies working in the region
continue to respond to the immediate and long-term needs of refugees and
IDPs, but also are focusing on tasks other than providing emergency relief
assistance, including repatriation from third countries and the repair of
war-damaged houses and public-use buildings.
The Stabilization Force (SFOR) of 31,000 troops is the follow-on military
force to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Implementation Force
(IFOR). SFOR, which includes 8,500 U.S. soldiers based in Tuzla, is
scheduled to leave B-H by June 1998. The United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) remains the lead humanitarian organization in the former
Yugoslavia for the resettlement and repatriation of refugees and IDPs. The
World Food Program (WFP) continues to provide the bulk of all humanitarian
food assistance throughout the region. In conjunction with the efforts of
UNHCR and WFP, international organizations (IOs) and non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) are addressing the ongoing humanitarian needs of the
region's remaining displaced and vulnerable populations including the
elderly, female heads of households, and minorities who remain in majority
areas. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) coordinates civilian
implementation of the Dayton peace agreement and works on FOM issues. OHR's
new head is Carlos Westendorp, who replaced Carl Bildt.
Numbers Affected
The World Bank reports that the war in the former Yugoslavia has resulted in
an estimated 250,000 people dead and 200,000 wounded. According to UNHCR
statistics, there are more than 1.6 million Bosnians in refugee and
internally displaced status. Of these, approximately 866,000 are IDPs in B-H
(416,000 in the Republika Srpska (RS) and 450,000 in the Muslim-Croat
federation). About 427,000 B-H refugees are currently in other countries of
the former Yugoslavia, mostly in Croatia and the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia (FRY). Roughly 388,000 B-H refugees are scattered throughout
western and central Europe, with the largest number in Germany (315,000).
UNHCR anticipates that about 200,000 B-H refugees will return home this year.
An estimated 150,000 Bosnians have repatriated and more than 160,000 IDPs
have returned to their homes, most of them spontaneously, since the beginning
of 1996, according to UNHCR. These returns, however, have been primarily to
areas controlled by their own ethnic groups. In addition, more than 390,000
refugees from Croatia have still not repatriated from other countries.
Total U.S. Government (USG) Humanitarian Assistance
FY 1997 (to date) $246,583,505
Current Situation
Although the war throughout the former Yugoslavia ended in December 1995,
living conditions remain insecure, particularly in the Bosnian Serb-dominated
RS. As donor funding begins to decrease, significant humanitarian needs
remain unfulfilled and B-H government policy and social service programs are
not in place to ensure aid to remaining vulnerable populations. A donor's
conference to raise $1.4 billion in assistance for Bosnia, was convened in
Brussels, Belgium on July 23, 1997. The conference had been delayed because
Bosnian Serbs withheld their approval of a "quick start package" that
establishes a central bank, customs tariff laws, and other institutions
necessary for Bosnian political and economic reconstruction.
Even though civilian rehabilitation efforts in B-H are underway, the
availability of housing and financial resources necessary to facilitate the
smooth return of refugees and DPs remains limited. Displaced populations
continue to live in collective centers, overcrowded private accommodations,
or abandoned and damaged homes. According to a recent UNHCR shelter report,
14,674 IDPs continue to live in collective centers, while more than 1 million
IDPs live in private accommodations in B-H, often with many families in one
home. In many instances, these IDPs are living in sub-standard conditions
and are dependent on humanitarian assistance for their continued survival.
Despite the limited housing availability, Western European countries --
particularly Germany and Switzerland -- have begun returning refugees to B-H.
Should large-scale involuntary returns from western Europe to B-H take place,
they would exacerbate the severe shortage of habitable housing and increase
the tension between IDPs and returnees. The influx and return of refugees
from western Europe has forced some IDPs in B-H out of their current
accommodations and put them in need of emergency assistance and shelter.
Refugee returnees have caused IDPs to be uprooted in Tesanj, the Bihac
pocket, and the Tuzla-Podrinje canton. The International Management Group
(IMG) estimates that for every two families returning to B-H, one family is
displaced.
FOM and security continue to be difficult political issues to resolve. Homes
under repair have been looted and burned and UNHCR bus trips for returnees
occasionally have been aborted or suspended because of the threat of hostile
demonstrations and local resident harassment. UNHCR, however, is continuing
its effort to facilitate inter-entity visits and IDP returns by maintaining
and expanding cross-IEBL bus lines that have been operational since mid-1996.
To date, UNHCR is running 11 inter-entity bus lines in B-H and considers the
buses essential until true FOM exists.
Incidents that hinder FOM continue on a regular basis in B-H as recent
incidents in Tinja, Trubar, and Drvar demonstrate. According to UNHCR,
social tensions in B-H will increase if IDPs and returning refugees do not
return to their places of origin. UNHCR representatives said that there is
now a clear shift in their policies, programs, and funding to support returns
for ethnic minorities, returns to places of origin, and FOM issues.
Demining remains a security issue for NGOs and IOs working to facilitate IDP
and refugee returns. With an increased number of returnees to B-H this
summer, the International Police Task Force (IPTF) and UNHCR representatives
are stressing the importance of marking, remarking, and demining as the
population increases and relocates. People returning to an area do not
immediately know the lay of the land, minefields, or former front lines. In
one instance, UNHCR/Sarajevo reported that their Trnovo return project
(rehabilitating housing and infrastructure) is on hold because of lack of
funds for mine clearing.
The U.N.'s Mine Action Center estimates that there are between 50-80 land
mine accidents each month in B-H. According to mine accident data collected
by ICRC, the majority of casualties are male manual laborers working in rural
areas, though 20% are children (under age 18) injured while playing.
Relief Efforts
Shelter Assistance
USAID's $25 million Emergency Shelter Repair Program (ESRP), implemented by
BHR/OFDA's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART), surpassed its goal of
completing basic emergency repairs on 2,500 badly-damaged houses in
war-affected areas of B-H. Sixty percent of the 2,548 homes that were
repaired are located in villages in or contiguous to the U.S. area of
responsibility within SFOR. The ESRP provided more than 2,000 short-term
jobs for the local population, including demobilized soldiers. It also
helped accelerate the return of approximately 10,000 or more IDPs from
temporary places of refuge to their own homes in villages damaged during the
war.
UNHCR's shelter program repaired some 16,000 apartments and houses in 1996.
It expects to rehabilitate 7,780 housing units in 1997. Most repairs are
being done on a self-help basis with tools and construction being turned over
to the communities or municipal authorities to allow reconstruction efforts
to continue. Whenever possible, construction materials are being purchased
locally to revitalize the economy. In some locations, however, the UNHCR
program has faced opposition from local residents and authorities determined
to prevent ethnic minorities from resettling. In Stolac, for example, 40
Muslim homes under repair as part of a UNHCR minority return pilot project
were repeatedly looted and burned.
Local efforts to prevent visits and the repatriation of ethnic minorities
have resulted in the destruction of hundreds of houses, religious and public
buildings, barns, and sheds throughout B-H that are otherwise habitable or
repairable. According to a recent International Crisis Group (ICG) report,
only 40,000 of up to 500,000 housing units damaged during the conflict have
been repaired during the last year. A massive expansion of existing shelter
projects needs to take place if the estimated 200,000 refugees actually
return in 1997, as UNHCR anticipates. The ICG report estimates that some
50,000-60,000 additional dwellings must be repaired, whereas, funding is
available to only repair 18,000 units.
Food Assistance
WFP's 1997 strategy is targeting their current food aid recipients for more
income generation and employment creating programs. These programs include
food for work for returnees engaged in shelter reconstruction projects, food
as an income supplement, and food as compensation for volunteer workers or
trainees.
Other WFP projects target the recovery of local agricultural production and
the revival of the food processing industry, including food assistance to
returning farmers; food assistance within seed multiplication programs; food
assistance for reforestation/orchard programs; and seed distributions as part
of food rations to rural communities.
WFP is reducing its number of beneficiaries throughout 1997 in B-H, as well
as phasing-out WFP distributions in the latter half of 1997 throughout the
FRY. Some 1.9 million people in B-H received WFP food rations as of January
1997. By the end of 1997, WFP envisions 600,000 vulnerable beneficiaries in
B-H and more than a 50% reduction in their programs from the January levels.
In addition, WFP contingency plans have been made for a further 200,000
returnees to B-H.
Basic Agriculture
With the completion of the ESRP program in winter 1996-1997, BHR/OFDA's
funding emphasis shifted to grants for vulnerable farm families -- IDPs,
refugees, and female heads of households -- with access to land but no
financial means to purchase seeds and agricultural tools. Toward this end,
BHR/OFDA funded basic agricultural programs in areas of need as identified by
the U.N.'s Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) 1997 appeal. These
seeds and tools programs, implemented by NGOs, amounted to more than $2.3
million, almost half of the $6 million FAO appeal for B-H. BHR/OFDA has
provided grants to Children's Direct Aid, ACF/USA, CRS, IRC, MCI, and Mercy
International to distribute seeds and tools to extremely vulnerable families
throughout B-H and the former Yugoslavia.
Water and Sanitation
A recent World Health Organization (WHO) assessment of water and sanitation
conditions in B-H found that there are still countrywide problems. In
assessing water supplies in B-H, WHO found that, in most regions, the main
towns are usually supplied with potable municipal water. Villages, however,
continue to rely on collected rainwater, wells, or capped springs which are
not quality-controlled. Leaking pipelines and insufficient capacity restrict
water supplies in most areas.
Sanitation is also a problem because municipalities lack vehicles and proper
disposal sites for solid waste collection. Where collection does take place,
little oversight or coordination is provided to the private disposal
companies. For example, in Banja Luka, the sewage system drains directly
into the Vrbas River. According to the WHO assessment, IDPs are at the
greatest risk of increased suffering due to a lack of basic personal hygiene
and domestic items, and deteriorating health conditions (mainly access to
water and toilets). Sanitary conditions are poor in most areas of B-H,
especially in eastern RS.
FRY
>From March 25 to April 3, USAID/DART members and BHR/OFDA's Regional Team
Leader for Europe revisited BHR/OFDA-funded projects in Kosovo. The team
found that the humanitarian situation had not improved since a previous visit
in September 1996. Significant needs remain, particularly for Krajina
refugees housed in collective centers (Ccs) and among ethnic Albanians in
Kosovo. In a time of decreasing donor assistance, overall conditions in
Kosovo may worsen with the return of ethnic Albanians to Kosovo from western
Europe.
The FRY continues to host more than 550,000 refugees with 50,000 still housed
in CCs. In Kosovo, there are an estimated 57,000 extremely vulnerable
families, of which over 10,000 members reside in CCs. UNHCR representatives
report that they do not foresee the repatriation or transfer to private
accommodations of any CCs residents. The refugees continue to be reliant on
humanitarian assistance and will spend another winter in CCs.
All NGOs working in the CCs described conditions as ranging from poor to
abysmal, particularly in the area of sanitation. While some CCs have been
improved by USAID/OFDA-funded NGOs, many remain without functioning toilets
and washing facilities. Water contamination from raw sewage has led to
outbreaks of hepatitis A in several CCs.
Total USG FY 1997 Assistance
In FY 1997 (to date), the USG has provided $246,583,505 in assistance to the
former Yugoslavia through USAID, Department of State, and Department of
Defense (DOD) programs. The following sections provide details on this
funding.
USAID/BHR/OFDA FY 1997 Assistance
To date, BHR/OFDA has obligated a total of $13,814,813 to address the
emergency humanitarian needs (food, health, water/sanitation, seeds/tools) of
vulnerable groups in the region through its NGO implementing partners, such
as Mercy Corps International; American Refugee Committee; International
Rescue Committee; World Vision Relief and Development; Children's Aid Direct;
Pharmaciens Sans Frontieres; Partners for Development; Catholic Relief
Services; Solidarites; and Premiere Urgence. The total amount obligated
includes Rapid Response Fund activities, which are designed to quickly
address unanticipated emergency needs.
BHR/OFDA FY 1997 (to date) $13,814,813
USAID/BHR/FFP FY 1997 Assistance
The Office of Food for Peace (BHR/FFP) has provided 76,400 MT of Title II
food assistance, valued at $38,020,297 to support emergency food requirements
of refugees and IDPs in the former Yugoslavia.
BHR/FFP FY 1997 (to date) $38,020,297
USAID/BHR/OTI FY 1997 Assistance
BHR/OTI has established USAID regional liaison offices in Banja Luka, Tuzla,
and Zenica, as well as two sub-regional offices in Livno and Brcko. BHR/OTI
also is supporting more than 300 political transition grants through these
offices to promote political development (independent media, electoral
assistance, and grass roots civic organizing).
BHR/OTI FY 1997 (to date) $6,598,784
USAID/ENI FY 1997 Assistance
USAID/ENI has contributed $83,977,473 toward two economic reconstruction
programs; $7,074,357 toward an economic stabilization program; $4,698,902
toward democratic reform programs; and $35,821,602 toward election support,
human rights, police training, and other activities.
USAID/ENI FY 1997 (to date) $131,572,334
STATE/PRM FY 1997 Assistance
The U.S. State Department's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration
(STATE/PRM) has contributed $27 million to UNHCR in FY 1997. STATE/PRM also
has contributed $8.6 million to the ICRC, $1 million to the World Health
Organization (WHO), $2 million to the International Organization for
Migration (IOM), and $15.4 million to other IOs and NGOs. The funding for
other IOs and NGOs includes up to $5 million for the open cities support
project.
STATE/PRM FY 1997 (to date) $54,471,777
DOD/PK&HA FY 1997 Assistance
DOD's Office of Peacekeeping and Humanitarian Assistance (DOD/PK&HA) has
provided 450,000 humanitarian daily rations (HDRs) valued at $1,800,000 for
use in the former Yugoslavia. Two bailey bridges were also partially funded
and transported by DOD/PK&HA to replace bridges erected by IFOR ($230,000).
In addition, DOD/PK&HA has funded the transport of emergency medical
supplies, medical equipment, school supplies, clothing, food, and trucks for
NGOs such as United Methodist Committee on Relief and Global Operations and
Development.
DOD/PK&HA FY 1997 (to date) $2,105,500
Total BHR/OFDA $13,814,813
Total BHR/FFP $38,020,297
Total BHR/OTI $6,598,784
Total USAID/ENI $131,572,334
Total STATE/PRM $54,471,777
Total DOD/PK&HA $2,105,500
Total USG FY 1997 (to date) $246,583,505
USG FY 1991 $1,000,000
USG FY 1992 $47,362,239
USG FY 1993 $343,841,260
USG FY 1994 $387,869,602
USG FY 1995 $181,571,978
USG FY 1996 $396,602,409
USG FY 1997 $246,583,505
Total USG FY 91-97 (to date) $1,604,830,993
distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Volunteers in Technical Assistance
Disaster Information Center lists: listproc@vita.org
sitreps nat-dsr
appeal fireline
web: www.vita.org rwanda
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
comments/suggestions/requests to incident@vita.org