U.S. AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT BUREAU FOR HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE (BHR) OFFICE OF U.S. FOREIGN DISASTER ASSISTANCE (OFDA) KOSOVO CRISIS Factsheet # 26 April 15, 1999
Highlights: Regional - Montenegro: UNHCR reports that over 67,200 displaced people from Kosovo are now in Montenegro. - The World Food Program (WFP) reports that 6,286 MTs of mixed commodities belonging to Catholic Relief Service (CRS), Mercy Corps International (MCI) and WFP remain uncleared in the port of Bar, Montenegro. Montenegrin authorities have indicated that these will be cleared "immediately", greatly reducing the possibility of further transfers of commodities from Bar to Durres, Albania. - The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) reports that the Kosovo crisis will have long-term and far- reaching food security implications for the region. Even if the security situation should improve enough for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to return home, massive international relief assistance would be needed for multiple agricultural seasons to address food concerns. - UNHCR reports that Muslims from the Sandzak region of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) continue to arrive in Sarajevo, but almost all are women, children, and elderly persons. The IDPs told UNHCR that men are not even trying to cross the border, knowing they will not be allowed to cross by Serb authorities. UNHCR Headquarter Summary of Refugees/IDPs Displaced from Kosovo* Country Total Refugees Entries in last 24 hrs Macedonia 117,500 3,000 Albania 318,000 3,600 Montenegro 67,200 * These are UNHCR's official numbers on refugee/IDP displacements. UNHCR Humanitarian Evacuations (beginning April 6) Receiving Country Number of Refugees Germany 7,918 Turkey 1,183 Norway 813 Israel 106 Others (Poland, Iceland, Switzerland) 116 TOTAL 10,136 ** ** Some refugees were moved involuntarily to third countries prior to April 6 by the Government of Macedonia: 10,000 were moved to Albania, 5,500 to Greece, and 1,980 to Turkey. Albania - UNHCR headquarters reports that there are 318,000 refugees in Albania currently, 3,600 of whom have entered in the last 24 hours. Approximately 100,000 refugees remain in the northern region. - The Government of Albania (GOA) and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) report that approximately 100,000 refugees remain in the northern region, including 3,423 people who entered Albania at the Morina border crossing since April 14. Further, 1,200 refugees from Kosovo entered Albania via Montenegro at the Han I Hotit crossing near Shkodra. (These figures are unofficial and may conflict with official UNHCR figures.) - The Kosovo-Albania border crossing at Kruma remains closed. - The GOA estimates that 2,900 refugees were transferred from the northern districts to other locations in the country since April 14. In total 174,900 refugees have been transferred out of the north over the past few weeks. - The insecurity in the northern regions is hampering the humanitarian relief effort. The GOA and OSCE reported shelling in Kukes and Has Districts by FRY forces, and reported seeing FRY troops inside Albania near Dobruna. - The DART reports that health and sanitation conditions are deteriorating in camps and collective centers. Sanitation conditions are particularly poor in Grieze camp in Vlora District due to lack of hygiene kits and damp conditions. - The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that the vaccination program preparations are underway. - DART reports that lack of shelter remains a problem for thousands of refugees in northern Albania. UNHCR is assessing overall needs. - The GOA is completing the construction of a refugee camp in Kukes with a capacity of 1,500 people. The Swiss are constructing a new camp to relieve overcrowding at Spitall near Durres. In the Has District the German refugee camp is nearly complete and has a capacity for 1,000 people. UNHCR reports it has 10,000 tents ready for distribution, with 1,000 more en route to Albania. - Joint Task Force – Shining Hope (JTF-SH) has designated four C-130 aircraft to transport Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDR) from Ancona, Italy to Tirana today. In addition, helicopters from the USS Inchon resumed airlift operations in transporting humanitarian supplies from Tirana to Kukes. - WFP is developing a storage plan to accommodate distributions to extended distribution points (EDPs). Currently WFP has a 2,000 MT storage capacity in Durres; the WFP/Tirana team is looking to secure a total of 5,000 MTs storage in the country, with additional stocks maintained in Place or Brindisi. - WFP reports that 6,700 loaves of bread were flown to Kukes 14 April and estimates that current bread production in Albania is sufficient to provide 75,000 people a 1-lb. loaf of bread a day. - WPF reported that 15,000 loaves of bread are to be delivered by road on April 15 to camps throughout the country. Macedonia - UNHCR headquarters reports that there are 117,500 refugees currently in Macedonia, 3,000 of whom have entered the country on April 14. 2,200 of these were taken to Stankovac I and 800 to Stankovac II. Also, according to the DART, 1,000 refugees crossed at Jazince, beginning at 2:30 am on April 15; 250 went to Neprosteno and 750 went to Stankovac I and II. - OSCE reports that another 3,000 - 4,000 people are waiting on the Serbian side of the Jazince border to cross into Macedonia. - The DART has developed, in coordination with the European Community Humanitarian Office (ECHO) and UNHCR, an emergency response program addressing the needs of refugees residing with host families and in the five refugee camps in Macedonia. - Camp details: (these numbers are becoming more refined as UNHCR registration continues) - Stankovac I (Brazda): 15,000 refugees. The United Arab Emirates will provide enough tents to accommodate another 1500 people in the camp. - Stankovac II: 12,000 refugees. ECHO has responsibility for funding camp coordination, management, distribution, and water. The U.S. Government (USG) will support camp sanitation and health care. - Radusa: 1,500 refugees. UNHCR has responsibility for funding camp management, coordination, distribution, and water/sanitation; ECHO is responsible for funding health care. - Bojane: 2,380 refugees. The Government of Macedonia (GOM) arranged for the Turkish Red Crescent to take the lead in camp coordination, management, distribution, and health care. This arrangement was made without donor coordination or support from UNHCR, USG, or ECHO. UNHCR will still support water and sanitation activities. - Neprosteno: 3,400 refugees. 250 of these were brought to the camp yesterday after crossing into Macedonia at Jazince. The GOM made arrangements for all camp management and sectoral functions without coordinating with UNHCR, USG, and ECHO. However, UNHCR has now arranged for the International Rescue Committee to be the lead agency at the camp. NATO has announced that Dutch soldiers will begin expanding Neprosteno to accommodate an additional 1,500 refugees. - Senokos: This camp currently has no refugees, but is ready to receive 750-1000 refugees. The USG will fund camp coordination, distribution, management, water, and sanitation; ECHO will fund health care. MCI has prepositioned food, water and other commodities. - At this time, UNHCR is planning to expand existing camps rather than open a new camp. - UNHCR says that according to refugee accounts, stores with food stocks are open in Pristina, but they are owned by Serbs and will not serve Albanians. - UNHCR Humanitarian Evacuations: On April 14, 1,316 refugees were evacuated voluntarily to third countries. Another 1,300 are expected to be evacuated today. The evacuation program is picking up pace. - WHO, UNICEF, the Macedonian Ministry of Health (MOH), and NGOs will start a comprehensive vaccination campaign for children. This campaign will begin in the camps and expand to host families and is scheduled to begin on or about April 23. - From 4 April through 13 April WFP reports distributing 247 MT of commodities and has been distributing on average 24,000 HDRs per day. WFP reports that it will have food monitors in all refugee camps by the end of this week. - NGOs continue to express concern about camp security and security arrangements as NATO transitions out of the camps. Background: - In late February 1998, following an unprecedented series of clashes in Kosovo between Serbian police forces and members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Serbian police raided villages in Kosovo's Drenica region, a KLA stronghold. The police reportedly burned homes and killed dozens of ethnic Albanians in these raids. Thousands of ethnic Albanians in Pristina protested Serb police actions, and were subsequently attacked by the police with tear gas, water cannons, and clubs. - As a result of the fighting, thousands of Kosovar Albanians were displaced from their homes, many taking refuge with host families, while a smaller proportion (several thousand) took to the hills and forests. USG Humanitarian Assistance: Commodities - USAID/OFDA has contributed over $6.8 million in commodities to the relief efforts in Kosovo, Albania and Macedonia in fiscal year 1999. - The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) confirmed that the 300,000 HDRs allocated for Macedonia will be moved from Travis AFB to Thessaloniki in the next few days. - WFP reports that 277,000 HDRs have been received in Tirana to date. DOD also reports that an additional 170,000 HDRs allocated for Albania remain in Ancona, Italy. Financial Support - On March 31, President Clinton announced a package of $50 million in aid to address the urgent humanitarian needs of those affected by the conflict in Kosovo. Of this amount $25 million will come from the Emergency Refugee and Migration Account (ERMA) and is to be disbursed to UNHCR and other international entities involved in the relief effort. The other $25 million will be comprised of supplies and services from the Department of Defense, including relief materials, shelter, and food. - On April 7, The U.S. Department of State, Bureau for Population, Refugees and Migration (State/PRM), which administers the ERMA funds, announced a donation of $3 million to the ICRC for assistance to the Kosovar Albanian refugees. - USAID/OFDA has provided approximately $2.1 million in new program assistance to respond to humanitarian needs in Macedonia. USAID/OFDA redirected approximately $3.7 million from relief efforts in Kosovo to humanitarian operations in Macedonia, for an estimated total of $7 million in assistance to the growing refugee crisis in that country. - Since the beginning of the crisis in February 1998, the USG has provided an estimated $150 million to respond to the humanitarian needs relating to the crisis in Kosovo. Public Donation Information - In the interest of effective coordination of such public response, we encourage concerned citizens to provide monetary donations to appropriate organizations. USAID does not recommend in-kind donations of clothing, food, medicines, or other goods as the handling, storage, and transport of these materials from the U.S. to the Balkans would be extremely complicated, time-consuming, and expensive. - USAID encourages the public to contact directly those private voluntary organizations (PVOs) which are currently working in Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Bosnia-Herzegovina to provide monetary donations. Financial contributions to PVOs will allow these professional aid organizations to purchase exactly what is most needed by the victims of the conflict in Kosovo and to pay for transport and other costs associated with the distribution of relief supplies. Cash contributions allow humanitarian agencies based in the Balkans to procure food, medicine, clothing, shelter materials, and other relief goods locally and regionally, thereby greatly speeding the delivery of this assistance to those most in need. - A list of PVOs that are currently working in, or have affiliates in, the Balkan countries, may be obtained from the USAID website at www.info.usaid.gov. The list is composed of non-profit organizations that are registered with USAID and/or listed by InterAction, a coalition of voluntary humanitarian and development organizations that work overseas; InterAction can be contacted at 202-667-8227, ext. 106, or via the internet at www.interaction.org. Those interested in providing specific technical relief services or commodities should contact Volunteers in Technical Assistance's (VITA) Disaster Information Center for information and guidelines (703) 276-1914. - For more information, please contact the public donations hotline at 1-800-USAID-RELIEF. This hotline, which is staffed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), is operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 969 calls were received by the public donation hotline on April 14, and 30,455 calls have been received since April 6. - Past USAID/OFDA Factsheets can be obtained from the USAID web site at the following URL: distributed by - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Volunteers in Technical Assistance sitreps nat-dsr web: www.vita.org appeal fireline - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Kosovo: http://www.vita.org/disaster/kosovo.htm