Kosovo - ICRC-06: 31-Jul-98
Kosovo - ICRC-06: 31-Jul-98
International Committee of the Red Cross/Red Crescent
Movement in response to the crisis in Kosovo
No. 6
31 July 1998
The past weeks have seen a serious escalation in fighting in Kosovo with
a series of violent clashes taking place in the centre and south west of
the province between the Yugoslav forces and the Kosovo Albanian
insurgents (UCK) This has undoubtedly taken a heavy toll on the
civilian population with tens of thousands forced to leave their homes,
many to shelter out of fear in forests and mountains, and widespread
destruction of property. There are now well over a 100,000 people who
have had to abandon their homes since the crisis began.
The swiftly evolving situation, the large movement of displaced people
and the deteriorating security situation means the ICRC faces an
extremely complex and difficult environment in which to work.
Nevertheless, field teams make daily visits to provide immediate help or
important follow-up work (family y contacts, continuing distributions,
prison visits and representations with authorities).
The battle for Orahovac
In mid-July, the town of Orahovac was the scene of one of the fiercest
battles so far as both sides fought for control of the town. ICRC
delegates who arrived on-the-spot on Tuesday, July 21, in the immediate
aftermath of the peak of the fighting were shocked to witness the
visible effects of the battle with bodies scattered along roadsides,
burning buildings, and terrified civilians, mostly ethnic Albanians,
trapped in their cellars. Delegates were also very much concerned by
credible reports that a considerable number of Serbs had been abducted
and ethnic Albanians arrested.
Around 20,000 people, mainly ethnic Albanians, had fled Orahovac and its
surroundings to Malishevo, north of the town. An ICRC team first visited
Malishevo on Monday, 20, July where they encountered displaced people in
a state of shock and trauma. Delegates were immediately able to
distribute relief goods such as wheat flour, individual food and hygiene
parcels and to provide medical establishments, which were quickly
running out of supplies, with basic surgical equipment with which to
treat the influx of wounded people. Teams returned during the following
days to Malishevo to continue to distribute essential emergency
supplies.
On Wednesday, July 22, the ICRC was contacted to facilitate the release
of 35 Serbs from Kosovo who had been abducted during the clashes in
Orahovac. The people, mainly elderly and sick and including seven
priests, were collected by the ICRC and taken to Pristina. Whilst
welcoming the release, the ICRC is determined to exert the same efforts
in order to have access to all Serbs abducted and to all ethnic
Albanians arrested because of the hostilities in Kosovo.
On July 23 and 24, the delegates returned to Orahovac where they were
able to meet with hundreds of civilians trapped in the town. The ICRC is
now putting its efforts on normalising the life in the city and
facilitating freedom of movement.
Northern Albania
As the battle for Orahovac raged, there were simultaneous clashes along
the border with Albania between Yugoslav army troops and insurgents
reportedly attempting to infiltrate from Albania. The clashes resulted
in an influx of wounded combatants who managed to make the hazardous
journey across difficult terrain to northern Albania.
Albanian Red Cross representatives and ICRC delegates were immediately
on-hand on the border to witness the dramatic scene and were able to
provide treatment and transport for the 27 seriously wounded to the
hospital in Bajram Curri.
The present situation
Since 25 July the Yugoslav forces opened by force main roads leading to
UCK-controlled areas (Pec-Pristina, Suka Reva-Stimje). By Tuesday, 28
July, the UCK stronghold of Malishevo was taken by Yugoslav forces.
The strategy of opening main roads has resulted in reports of
destruction of villages and roadside property. The attack on Malishevo
prompted the exodus of tens of thousands of people, many of whom had
only recently been forced to flee Orahovac. An ICRC team is presently
assessing the situation of the different groups of displaced.
Meanwhile, tension remains high around places like Junik, the scene of
earlier fighting and where the ICRC has made visits to assist Serb and
Albanian communities with emergency help, and around other potential
flashpoints.
ICRC priorities
The main objective of the ICRC operation in Kosovo is to try to ensure
that the civilian population is spared as much as possible from the
damaging psychological and physical effects of the hostilities - by
helping those affected and by reminding of those involved in the
hostilities of their obligations to treat persons who are not or no
longer taking part in the fighting the respect they are due under the
provisions of international humanitarian law.
The key focuses of the current ICRC action are:
- For the displaced, to continue to provide basic emergency relief and
medical help for the increasingly large numbers of people forced to flee
their homes and to re-establish family links for those who have lost
contact with their relatives
- For those trapped in their homes or cut off in their villages to try
to tackle both the psychological trauma and their material needs - such
as provided recently to the people recently in Kijevo and Orahovac.
- For the civilian victims of violence, harassment and threats, to
continue to gather relevant allegations from the affected communities by
constant contact and dialogue in order to strengthen representations
with the authorities where needed.
- For the wounded, sick and for pregnant women, to ensure material
support to those providing medical care and to ensure continuing access
to medical facilities for those who need it.
- For those who lost their lives, to ensure that their identity is
established beyond doubt before their remains be given a decent burial.
Ideally, families should be able to proceed to identification and
burial, but where this is not possible, families must be informed of the
death of a relative and the location of the grave.
- For the abducted Serbs, to gain immediate access to ease the anguish
of their families who have no idea of their whereabouts, and facilitate
their early release.
- For the ethnic Albanians arrested, to continue to visit them regularly.
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