ICRC News 24 / 29-Jun-00

** SHORT MENU....

Eritrea/Ethiopia: More Ethiopians repatriated from Eritrea:
1,135 Ethiopian civilians interned in a camp near Asmara (Eritrea) were
voluntarily repatriated yesterday under the auspices of the ICRC

RWANDA/UGANDA: ICRC repatriates 28 prisoners of war:
On 26 June, at the request of the Rwandan and Ugandan authorities, the ICRC
repatriated 28 Ugandan prisoners of war detained in Gitarama, Rwanda.

INDONESIA/MOLUCCAS: ICRC provides medical supplies as violence erupts in
North Maluku:
Urgently requested medical supplies were flown by an ICRC-chartered
helicopter to various health facilities as violence flared up last week in
the northern part of Halmahera island in North Maluku province - one
flashpoint in the troubled Moluccas, where mounting inter-religious tension
has had serious consequences for the population in recent months.

YUGOSLAVIA:Growing hardship in Serbia gives cause for concern:
Hardship is frequently worse among the resident population of Serbia proper
than among the internally displaced, and poverty is spiralling out of
control, forcing many people to ask the displaced families they are hosting
to leave and seek shelter in often harsh and degrading "collective
centres".


** STORIES IN FULL...

Eritrea/Ethiopia
More Ethiopians repatriated from Eritrea 
1,135 Ethiopian civilians interned in a camp near Asmara (Eritrea) were
voluntarily repatriated yesterday under the auspices of the ICRC. They had
previously been visited by ICRC delegates, who provided them with material
assistance. The operation, which was conducted by teams from the ICRC
Asmara and Addis Ababa delegations, was carried out with the agreement and
cooperation of the Eritrean and Ethiopian governments.


Meanwhile, the ICRC is continuing to visit other places where Ethiopian
civilians are interned in Eritrea. Civilian internees are protected by the
Fourth Geneva Convention.

Two other groups of interned Ethiopian civilians are to be repatriated in
the coming days. Repatriation operations will then continue for a number of
months, enabling several thousand Ethiopians to return to their country of
origin if they wish. All these operations should take place at the same
crossing point, on the front line between the villages of Adi Quala and
Rama.

On 20, 22 and 24 June, similar operations had already been carried out to
repatriate 3,500Ethiopians who had had to flee their homes on the Eritrean
side of the border after the upsurge in fighting in mid-May.

Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva , tel: ++ 41 22 730 22 81
mobile phone: ++ 41 79 217 32 17




RWANDA/UGANDA
ICRC repatriates 28 prisoners of war

On 26 June, at the request of the Rwandan and Ugandan authorities, the ICRC
repatriated 28 Ugandan prisoners of war detained in Gitarama, Rwanda. In so
doing, it acted in its capacity as a neutral intermediary in accordance
with its mandate. The prisoners, who had been taken to Rwanda on 16 June
after being captured by Rwandan forces in Kisangani, Democratic Republic of
the Congo, had been visited by ICRC delegates on 21June. 

An ICRC aircraft made two trips to fly the 28 Ugandans from Kigali to the
military airport in Entebbe. On each outward flight there were 14 prisoners
and one ICRC delegate aboard.

The ICRC will continue to make its services available to all the parties to
the conflict in order to promote compliance with the provisions of
international humanitarian law, in particular the 1949 Geneva Conventions
and their Additional Protocols of 1977.

Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Geneva, tel: ++41 22 730 22 81; 
mobile phone: ++41 79 217 32 17


INDONESIA/MOLUCCAS
ICRC provides medical supplies as violence erupts 
in North Maluku

Urgently requested medical supplies were flown by an ICRC-chartered
helicopter to various health facilities as violence flared up last week in
the northern part of Halmahera island in North Maluku province - one
flashpoint in the troubled Moluccas, where mounting inter-religious tension
has had serious consequences for the population in recent months.

According to recent estimates, the escalating violence between Christian
and Muslim communities in North and South Maluku, the two provinces which
make up the Moluccas, has already caused many people to flee their homes.
Tens of thousands are now living in camps that have been set up on the
nearby island of Sulawesi and many more are believed to be displaced within
the Moluccas themselves.

As part of an ongoing humanitarian relief programme run from the Indonesian
Red Cross Society's office in Ternate, the capital of North Maluku, joint
ICRC/National Society teams have already delivered family parcels,
clothing, hygiene articles and other emergency supplies to more than 30,000
people in the southern part of the province and distributed family parcels
and rice to around 6,000 people in the north.

Previous surveys conducted in North Maluku had already indicated that, with
the exception of those living on the island of Morotai, people could still
rely on existing coping mechanisms to obtain food but that there was an
urgent need for medical and other supplies.

Further information: Arista Idris, ICRC Jakarta, tel: ++ 6221 720 7252
Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel: ++ 41 22 730 2678 or ++ 41 79 217 3216


YUGOSLAVIA
Growing hardship in Serbia gives cause for concern

Hardship is frequently worse among the resident population of Serbia proper
than among the internally displaced, and poverty is spiralling out of
control, forcing many people to ask the displaced families they are hosting
to leave and seek shelter in often harsh and degrading "collective
centres".

These are some of the findings from a recent independent "vulnerability
assessment" study commissioned jointly by the ICRC, the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Yugoslav Red
Cross in order to establish the scale of needs among various target groups
and devise the most efficient response.

The study, which is based on a representative sample of 1,200 refugees, 800
internally displaced persons and 500 resident socially vulnerable cases,
shows that the overall quality of life is worse among people in the latter
group, most of whom have little or no income and no savings, than among
those in the other two groups, who are receiving more humanitarian aid. It
also indicates that increasingly widespread poverty is making it impossible
for families to continue to host internally displaced persons. For
instance, 47 per cent of the people currently living in collective centres
(a term used to describe temporary places of shelter for displaced persons
and refugees, often schools or sports halls) were originally housed with


families - in most cases relatives - and in some municipalities as many as
400 applications for accommodation in collective centres are submitted
every week.

"This is the trend that strikes me most", said Edward Tonchew, who manages
the ICRC soup kitchen programme. "Bearing in mind the conditions in some
collective centres, like sports halls for instance, it is sheer desperation
that drives people to make such a decision. They have no choice because
accommodation in collective centres at least means they get free meals,
water and electricity."

The ICRC, the International Federation and the Yugoslav Red Cross are still
providing hundreds of thousands of resident socially vulnerable cases,
refugees and internally displaced persons with food and other kinds of
assistance.

Further information: Gordana Milenkovic, ICRC Belgrade, tel: ++ 381 11 450
590 
Amanda Williamson, ICRC Geneva, tel: ++ 41 22 730 2678 or 00 41 79 217 3216


During the weekend of 1 - 2 July 2000, for all information please call the
press officer on duty Amanda Williamson,  on (mobile) 41 79 217 32 16