Secretary-General holds
high-level "Friends of Kosovo" meeting on UN efforts
to rebuild shattered province.
JUNE 30 -- Bringing together ministers and high-ranking officials
from 16 countries and three key international organizations, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan on Wednesday briefed the group on the initial deployment
of the UN mission in Kosovo and the resources it would need to
rebuild the devastated province.
The group, known as Friends of Kosovo, was initiated
by Mr. Annan as part of his efforts to consult regularly with
Governments and organizations that can help him implement the
mandate of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in
Kosovo (UNMIK).
"Our collective objective is a multi-ethnic
Kosovo in which the people -- all the people, regardless of ethnicity
can live their lives in peace and hope," the Secretary-General
told a packed news conference after the meeting at UN Headquarters
in New York. He said there was general agreement on the complexity
of the task ahead, and there was consensus on several issues.
The participants of the ministerial-level meeting
were briefed about the immediate challenges facing the UN Mission
as it sets up its operations. Those included the massive daily
flow of returning refugees, the need to establish law and order
and to engage the various political groups in a process of rehabilitation
and reconciliation.
Everyone agreed that UNMIK should assume policing
responsibilities from KFOR, the international military force,
but that would depend on how quickly countries provided civilian
police, Mr. Annan said. The UN needed 3,110 police and so far
had received pledges for 1,938 officers. "We cannot deploy
and distribute what we do not have," he added.
On the issue of economic reconstruction, the
Secretary-General said there was a sense that one should take
a broader view and that for Kosovo to really succeed, the region
itself must be brought back to health. There was also a suggestion
that water and electricity should be considered humanitarian and
also a sense that priority should be given to re-establishing
conditions for the use of the Danube because of its importance
to the region, said Mr. Annan.
The 16 countries making up Friends of Kosovo
include Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany,
Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, Turkey, the
United Kingdom and the United States. The European Union (EU),
the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) are also
a part of the group.
UN urges returning Kosovars
to halt retaliatory attacks against Serb and Roma minorities.
JUNE 30-- Alarmed by a wave of reprisals against Serb and Roma
minorities in Kosovo, a senior United Nations official on Wednesday
called on returning refugees to prevent retaliatory attacks.
Dennis McNamara, the Secretary-General's Deputy
Special Representative for Humanitarian Affairs in Kosovo, also
called on KFOR, the international military force in the province,
to continue to step up security measures to protect these people.
"Over the past two weeks, there have been
increasing reports of intimidation and violent attacks directed
against the Serb and Roma minorities in Kosovo," said Mr.
McNamara. "Many of those targeted are elderly people who
do not present a threat to anyone."
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
reported that in just one Pristina neighbourhood, seven houses
were burned down on Tuesday night as Serbs and other minorities
fled their homes. Reports from several other areas describe instances
of returnees evicting Serb and Roma tenants from their houses
and then settling there themselves.
Mr. McNamara said some 5,000 Serbs who fled
to Kosovo from earlier conflicts in Bosnia and Herzegovina and
Croatia were being targeted by such attacks and the humanitarian
agencies could not ensure their physical security. "We need
a continued robust response from KFOR as well as the re-establishment
of the key institutions for law and order," he stressed.
Serbs were leaving Kosovo because they felt
insecure, the Deputy Special Representative emphasized. "It
is imperative that we do not solve one refugee problem and create
another one. The refugee cycle in the Balkans must be ended."
United Nations food agency
expands Kosovo operation to aid 2.5 million people in Balkans.
JUNE 30-- The United Nations food agency on Tuesday announced
a dramatic expansion of its emergency aid operation in the Balkans
to assist 2.5 million people who have suffered form the Kosovo
crisis and previous strife in the region.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said that the
six-month $224 million operation, to be launched on 1 July, will
help refugees, internally displaced and war-affected people in
five territories -- the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, its province
of Kosovo, the neighbouring countries of Albania and the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Rome-based WFP, the world's largest food
aid agency, will supply a "food basket" of wheat flour,
rice, cooking oil, canned meat or fish, beans, sugar and salt,
as well as several kinds of ready-to-eat food.
According to WFP estimates, the UN agency will
feed 1.5 million Kosovar refugees and internally displaced persons
throughout the Balkan region, as well as 500,000 war-affected
people in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and 500,00
refugees from Bosnia and Croatia conflicts in FRY.
Eighteen countries pledge
to send police contingents for UN mission in Kosovo.
JUNE 29 -- Eighteen countries have agreed to send police contingents
to serve with the United Nations Interim Administration Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK), a UN spokesman said on Tuesday.
So far, the UN has received commitments of more
than 900 civilian police and is hoping to bring in large contingents
of 150 to 200 officers every five days from the beginning of July.
UNMIK estimates it will need a force of 3,000 international officers
to maintain law and order until a multi-ethnic Kosovo Police Force
is set up.
Meanwhile, five teams of UN police officers
were sent to KFOR brigade headquarters in the Kosovo capital of
Pristina, as well as Mitrovica, Prizren, Pec and Urosevac, to
provide advice on civilian police functions. The rest of the 35-member
contingent, on loan from the UN mission in Bosnia, will fan out
to the 29 municipalities and the border points.
Pace of spontaneous returns
to Kosovo slowing, UN refugee agency reports.
JUNE 29 -- The United Nations refugee agency reported on Tuesday
that the pace of spontaneous returns to Kosovo was beginning to
slow, with a 30 per cent decline recorded on Monday as compared
with the high of 41,700 Kosovars streaming back to the province
last Saturday.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) said that while it was too early to say if the trend would
continue, the decline might have reflected the fact that most
refugees who have the means to arrange their own trip and a place
to go to, have already returned.
Earlier today, UNHCR and International Organization
for Migration organized a second repatriation of around 320 refugees
to Pristina and Urosevac from camps in the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia. Yesterday, more than 300 people went back to Kosovo
in the first organized return.
On arrival in Kosovo, refugees from the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia receive food assistance provided
by the UN World Food Programme, as well as blankets, mattresses,
hygienic kits and plastic sheeting.
Meanwhile, UN staff in northern Kosovo, especially
in the Pec area, has reported that lack of shelter continues to
be the biggest problem. An estimated 45,000 houses in Kosovo are
uninhabitable and UNHCR has been distributing family-sized tents
to returnees.
A sudden increase in spending for shelter materials,
repair of damaged buildings and transport for refugees has further
strained the UN agency's resources. UNHCR says it has only $2.4
million left for the Kosovo operation for July unless it receives
fresh funding.
UN Mission in Kosovo moves
to re-establish judicial system and deploy international police
contingent.
JUNE 28 -- With more than half of the 800,000 Kosovo refugees
now back in the province, the United Nations is moving to defuse
tensions between Serbs and ethnic Albanians, re-establish the
judicial system and deploy international police.
On Monday, the Secretary-General's Acting Special
Representative in Kosovo, Sergio Vieira de Mello, swore in a panel
of seven legal experts to advise him on the appointment of new
judges for Kosovo. First appointments of interim judges are expected
within the week.
"The appointments are an important step
forward towards building an independent and multi- ethnic judiciary
for Kosovo," said Mr. Vieira de Mello who is in charge of
setting up the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Ultimately, the UN is looking for judges and prosecutors for 29
first district courts and five second district courts.
Five members of the panel were selected from
a list of jurists compiled by the Organization of Security and
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the Council of Europe.
Judges are needed quickly to deal with people
arrested and held by KFOR, the international military force. According
to European Commission standards, detainees must be brought before
a judge within 48 hours and, since there are none, KFOR has been
releasing people it has arrested, a UN spokesman said on Monday.
To help with policing, 35 international police
from the UN mission in Bosnia arrived on Sunday and will be deployed
tomorrow, Spokesman Fred Eckhard said. The UN estimates it needs
about 3,000 international police officers to maintain law and
order. Although several countries have indicated their willingness
to supply police, so far there had been no substantive commitments.
Meanwhile, in the wake of tensions in the main
hospital in Pristina between Serb and ethnic Albanian medical
staff, a UN-chaired joint civilian commission made up of representatives
from both communities, will meet on Tuesday to address health
issues. UNMIK has set up several civilian commissions to deal
with such matters as education, health, public utilities, justice,
the economy and the media.
UNHCR begins organized
repatriation of refugees to three towns in Kosovo.
JUNE 28 -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
on Monday began the organized repatriation of hundreds of thousands
of Kosovar refugees, taking more than 300 from camps in the Former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia to their homes in Pristina.
The refugees from two camps north of Skopje
made their trip aboard 10 buses organized by UNHCR and the International
Organization for Migration. Some of the returnees had been in
the camps since early April.
The organized returns are to Kosovo's capital
Pristina, Prizren and Urosevac. The three towns are secure, relatively
undamaged and easily accessible from the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia. Organized returns from Albania are expected to begin
on Tuesday.
In one of the fastest spontaneous returns in
decades, over 400,000 refugees have already gone back to Kosovo
on their own despite warnings of uncertain security, heavy damage
in many areas and the lack of an international support system.
Dozens have been wounded or killed by mines and many have found
their towns and villages destroyed.
Meanwhile, UNHCR is looking into the condition
of Serbs who remain in Kosovo. The UN agency is also examining
the situation of the 5,000 to 7,000 Krajina Serb refugees who
were in Kosovo before the NATO action. Many are believed to have
left and others have asked for help to leave Kosovo. UNHCR plans
to transport them to Serbia from where they can decide whether
to repatriate to Croatia, stay in Serbia or resettle in a third
country.
Secretary-General forms
"group of Friends" to consult on UN operations in Kosovo.
JUNE 25 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan has formed a "group
of Friends" for Kosovo to consult on issues facing the United
Nations mission as it sets up operations in the province, a UN
spokesman said on Friday.
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
is leading the massive international effort to rebuild Kosovo
into a functioning, democratic society.
Mr. Annan has invited 13 countries and three
international organizations to come to New York next Wednesday.
The provisional list of Friends includes Canada, China, Finland,
France, Germany Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Russia, Turkey,
the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the European
Union (EU), the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
In a preliminary report outlining UNMIK's structure
and role, the Secretary-General said he would consult regularly
with Governments and organizations that could help him implement
the Security Council resolution authorizing the UN Mission.
Meanwhile, the Secretary-General's two Special
Envoys for the Balkans are attending meetings over the weekend
as part of the international bid to find solutions to the fallout
from the wars in the former Yugoslavia.
Special Envoy Eduard Kukan will chair a plenary
on the future of the Balkans at the annual International Economic
and Political Forum in Crans Montana, Switzerland. Viktor Chernomyrdin,
Russia's Special Envoy for Kosovo and Jesse Jackson, the US Special
Envoy for the Promotion of Democracy and Human Rights, will also
address the Forum.
Other speakers will include Kiro Gligorov, President
of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Montenegro's Prime
Minister Filip Vujanovic; Slovenia's President Milan Kucan; Bosnia
and Herzegovina's Presidium member Alija Izetbagovic; and Kosovo
Albanian leader Ibrahim Rugova.
Carl Bildt, the Secretary-General's other Special
Envoy is in Greece where he will participate in an international
Seminar titled "Developing a Network of Young Leaders from
Southeastern Europe".
Tensions run high between
Albanian and Serb communities in Kosovo amid violence and lawlessness.
JUNE 25 -- Tensions gripped parts of Kosovo on Friday amid reports
of shootings, sporadic arson attacks and the worst violence in
the provincial capital Pristina since the arrival of KFOR troops
earlier this month, said a United Nations spokesman.
Sergio Vieira de Mello, the Secretary-General's
Acting Special Representative, who is in charge of setting up
the UN operation in Kosovo, went to Mitrovica, where tensions
are running high between the Albanian and Serb communities who
live on the opposite sides of the river running through the town.
A UN refugee agency team which went to Mitrovica on Thursday to
open a regional office described the town as "a ticking time
bomb".
Meanwhile, in Pristina, the stand-off between
Serb and Albanian medical staff at the main city hospital deteriorated
further on Friday when negotiations between the two sides under
the auspices of the UN and KFOR broke off. UN staff described
the atmosphere at the hospital as a microcosm of the problems
and challenges elsewhere in the war-torn province.
According to KFOR, 247 Kalishnakov rifles and
a similar number of pistols and knives have been seized in the
hospital over the past few days. Serb doctors and staff have been
confronting Albanian medical staff wanting their jobs back and
there has also been violence among patients. A man brought in
with a gunshot wound pulled a pistol on a person he claimed was
his assailant, triggering an exchange of gunfire.
On the political front, Mr. Vieira de Mello
is scheduled to meet in Pristina on Saturday with the four Albanian
signatories of the Rambouillet accords, said the spokesman.
Aid workers struggle to
find shelter for tens of thousands of refugees flooding back to
Kosovo.
JUNE 25 -- As tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians streamed back
into Kosovo on Friday, aid workers struggled to find shelter for
them in war- devastated villages and to help victims of landmine
incidents, said a UN spokesman.
In a huge spontaneous movement, over 300,000
Kosovars have flooded into Kosovo in the last 10 days, with a
record high of nearly 50,000 crossing back on Friday, according
to the latest figures from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR).
But, even as returnees crossed into Kosovo from
the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian, Serbian houses burned
in Pec. According to UNHCR, it was unclear who was doing the burning
-- the scores of Serbians leaving each day because they are afraid
of an uncertain future or Kosovo Albanians seeking revenge.
Meanwhile, the aid convoy and relief operation
is gathering momentum with dozens of trucks reaching those in
need on a daily basis. UNHCR convoys from the Macedonian capital
of Skopje carried blankets, mattresses, tents, plastic sheeting
and hygienic kits to Pec, Pristina and Prizren.
In other developments, UNHCR announced on Friday
that the humanitarian evacuation programme will be suspended at
the end of June, with the exception of refugees in need of special
medical care. Nearly 90,000 refugees were evacuated to 29 countries
under the programme which began in early April to relieve the
pressure caused by the flood of refugees into the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia.
Under a repatriation plan, the first organized
return of Kosovar refugees, initially to Pristina, Prizren and
Urosevac, is scheduled to leave from the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia on Monday.
Head of UN mission in
Kosovo appeals to NATO countries to send administrators and civilian
police.
JUNE 24 -- The Secretary-General's Acting Special Representative
in Kosovo has appealed to NATO countries to provide civilian police
and administrators for swift deployment in the province, a UN
spokesman said on Thursday.
Sergio Vieira de Mello, who is in charge of
setting up the UN operations in Kosovo, appealed for police contingents
during a meeting on Thursday in Pristina with NATO Secretary-General
Javier Solana and the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, General
Wesley Clark. He made a similar appeal on Wednesday when he met
the foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the United
Kingdom.
The United Nations Interim Administration Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK) needs 3,000 international police officers, said
UN Spokesman Fred Eckhard. Although several countries had indicated
their willingness to supply police, the offers had not yet been
confirmed. "We need policing capacity now, before lawlessness
prevails, after which it will be very hard to introduce order,"
added Mr. Eckhard.
In other developments in Kosovo, a group of
Albanian and Serb leaders, met separately with Mr. Solana and
General Clark, and then had their first public encounter at UNMIK
headquarters. Serb Archbishop Artemije and Kosovo Liberation Army
leader Thaci shook hands and exchanged a few words, the Spokesman
said.
Meanwhile, at a press conference at UN Headquarters
in New York, Carl Bildt, the Secretary-General's Special Envoy
for the Balkans, said UNMIK was moving quickly to set up its administrative
authority. A lot of attention was centered on the power vacuum
as it was important to prevent any one group from assuming functions
and powers they did not have. Attention would turn to economic
conditions as there was a desperate need for food, jobs and economic
regulation, he said.
UNHCR set to begin organized
return of refugees to safe areas in Kosovo.
JUNE 24 -- The United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
is set to begin organized returns of people to areas in Kosovo
considered safe by KFOR, the international military force.
UNHCR Special Envoy Dennis McNamara, said on
Thursday that organized returns to Urosevac, Prizren and Pristina
could begin as early as next week from camps in neighbouring Albania
and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Organized movements to other areas will follow
as soon as basic requirements for safe and sustainable return
are met. These include a secure environment, established international
presence by UNHCR and its non-governmental organization partners,
and the availability of shelter, food and other assistance.
Despite the dangers posed by landmines and other
security threats and the very difficult conditions in their towns
and villages, more than 250,000 refugees have returned spontaneously
to their homes.
UNICEF to school all Kosovo
children; steps up mine-awareness efforts.
JUNE 24 -- The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) on Thursday
pledged to give every primary school age child in Kosovo the opportunity
to be back in school by the start of the academic year in September.
According to UNICEF, Kosovo's education system
has been devastated, with many schools vandalized or destroyed
and an unknown number of teachers injured or killed. A rapid UNICEF
assessment of 13 schools west and south of the provincial capital,
found only three considered safe.
Plans are underway to make temporary repairs
to moderately damaged primary schools to prepare them for winter,
said UNICEF. But many schoolrooms will have to be housed in alternative
structures such as the tents used in refugee camps in Albania
and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
Secretary-General urges
patience by Kosovar Albanians while UN readies war-torn province
for their return.
JUNE 24 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday once again
urged patience by refugees anxious to go home to Kosovo while
the United Nations readies the war-torn province for their return.
"We need the time to be able to prepare
the ground, to be able to prepare shelter, to be able to preposition
food, for us to be able to look after them when they get back,"
the Secretary-General said to reporters following wide-ranging
talks in London with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The Secretary-General said the UN had originally
planned for 400,000 Kosovar Albanians to go back before the winter,
but with the recent spate of spontaneous returns, "the number
may be much higher than that."
Mr. Annan is in London for an unofficial visit,
where he is scheduled to make two major speeches Friday and Monday.
Before departing Moscow, the Secretary-General met with Russian
President Boris Yeltsin and had a broad review of the international
agenda, including Kosovo.
Head of UN mission in
Kosovo briefs European foreign ministers.
JUNE 23 -- Sergio Vieira De Mello, the Secretary-General's Acting
Special Representative in Kosovo, briefed European foreign ministers
in Pristina on Wednesday about United Nations operations in the
battered province.
The UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo
(UNMIK) is leading the massive international effort to restore
Kosovo with assistance from the European Union (EU) and the Organization
for Security and Cooperation (OSCE).
Mr. Vieira De Mello, who is currently heading
the UN mission, met with the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom,
France, Germany and Italy at the new UNMIK headquarters. The top
military official in Kosovo, KFOR Commander Lieutenant General
Michael Jackson, also attended the meeting. The group then met
separately with KLA representatives, ethnic Albanian community
leaders and Serbian Archbishop Artemije.
Meanwhile, work is underway to appoint UN-chaired
joint civilian commissions that will bring together Serb and ethnic
Albanians to address immediate reintegration issues. At least
seven commissions will deal with such issues as education, health,
public utilities, justice, the economy, finance, communications,
and the media.
According to a UN spokesman, the issue of funding
for UNMIK's work is a top concern. Trust funds have been set up
but so far remain empty. Money is urgently needed to meet the
salaries of civil servants, many of whom have not been paid for
more than two months. Another priority is funding for small-scale
projects including repairs to damaged water supplies, mosques
and churches.
Secretary-General's talks
with Russian leaders in Moscow focus on Kosovo and other global
issues.
JUNE 23 -- During meetings with top officials in Moscow on Wednesday,
Secretary-General Kofi Annan discussed a wide range of issues,
including the restoration of Kosovo, global developments and the
role of the United Nations.
On day two of his official visit, Mr. Annan
met with Prime Minister Sergei Stepashin, Foreign Minister Igor
Ivanov, the Speaker of the Duma, Gennadi Seleznyov, and Alexander
Bessmertnykh, who heads a 120-member International Council of
Former Foreign Ministers.
The Secretary-General told reporters after his
meeting with Mr. Ivanov that he had taken the opportunity to thank
the Foreign Minister for the "absolutely essential role"
the Russian Federation played in resolving the Kosovo crisis.
"Without the Russian leadership and the Russian role we probably
would not have an agreement today," Mr. Annan said.
"I am also very grateful for the strong
support that the United Nations has received from the Russian
Federation," said Mr. Annan. "Without the United Nations,
without a strengthened and active United Nations, the world would
be a much messier place than it is."
The Secretary-General's meeting with Mr. Stepashin
focused almost exclusively on Kosovo, while discussions with Foreign
Minister Ivanov touched on Kosovo, Iraq, the Middle East, Afghanistan,
India-Pakistan relations and conflicts within the Commonwealth
of Independent States.
During their meeting, the Secretary-General
and Mr. Seleznev also touched on the situation in Kosovo and the
plight of Kosovar Serb refugees.
UNHCR consolidates relief
distribution network for Kosovo.
JUNE 23 -- As United Nations aid convoys and assessment teams
move out to rural areas from Kosovo's capital Pristina, the UN's
refugee agency is consolidating relief distribution networks and
health services in the war-devastated province.
Under an aid network designed by the United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the UN World
Food Programme (WFP), various private aid agencies will be responsible
for the delivery of relief to different villages and towns.
The networks will target internally displaced
persons, returning refugees and vulnerable Serbs as well as people
who have never left their homes, but have had little access to
food, water and other supplies during the past three months.
Four WFP helicopter flights a day are distributing
emergency supplies to areas inaccessible because of landmines.
UNHCR and WHO are also assessing the health care infrastructure
and drawing up plans to revitalize it.
Meanwhile, despite heavy rains and huge traffic
jams, more than 23,000 refugees in Albania and the former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia headed home on Tuesday, UNHCR reports. Close
to 220,000 people have streamed back to Kosovo in just over a
week.
According to a UN spokesman, UNHCR again voiced
"mixed feelings" about the rush to return. While agency
staff are happy to see the refugees going home, they are very
anxious about the threat of landmines and security issues confronting
the refugees inside Kosovo, said the spokesman. Four people, including
two British soldiers and a child have been killed by landmines.
Forensic experts from
around world investigating alleged massacre sites in Kosovo.
JUNE 23 -- Forensic experts from around the world are arriving
daily in Kosovo to investigate alleged war crimes sites on behalf
of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia.
According to a UN spokesman, Dutch forensic
investigators and an FBI team from the United States were deployed
on Wednesday, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are sending
a team on the weekend. A British team is expected to finish its
work in Velika Krusa by end of weekend, before going onto another
site.
Graham Blewitt, the Tribunal's Deputy Prosecutor,
told reporters in the Hague that the investigators had to be careful
as the situation was still dangerous and booby traps had been
found.
In response to a question, Mr. Blewitt said
there was some evidence of sites being destroyed. As far as possible,
the destruction of sites would be documented as it could be valuable
in cases where an accused claimed victims were killed in the course
of a battle, in which case, any moved or changed evidence would
dispute that, he said.
UNHCR stresses need to
provide shelter for refugees streaming back to Kosovo.
JUNE 22 -- The United Nations refugee agency said on Tuesday that
providing shelter in Kosovo is becoming a priority as hundreds
of thousands of people flood back to the province only to find
their homes and villages destroyed.
The number of people who have returned to Kosovo
since the deployment of first KFOR troops is expected to top 200,000
by the end of Tuesday and the stream showed no signs of abating,
said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Camps in the northern Albanian town of Kukes that housed 35,000
refugees just a week ago are now practically empty.
UNHCR and other aid agencies are rapidly expanding
their operations in Kosovo to keep up with what is turning out
to be the Balkan's fastest spontaneous return movement during
the 1990s wars. Two UNHCR convoys carrying tents, plastic sheeting,
blankets and hygiene kits travelled to Podujevo on the strategic
road between Kosovo's capital Pristina and Belgrade.
From Prizren, UNHCR teams went to look at conditions
in the Suva Reka region and reported severe damage in many villages.
In the village of Studencane, for example, only 20 of 500 houses
were intact and hundreds of returnees were trying to rebuild their
homes. Another team reported that in Prizren's Bogoslavija Monastery,
KFOR troops were protecting 50 mainly elderly people. They included
Serbs suspected by ethnic Albanians of being collaborators, and
other minorities.
The UN refugee agency also opened a supply line
on Tuesday between Skopje in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
and Pec in Western Kosovo, to deliver urgently needed tents. A
UN aerial survey last week found that up to 50 per cent of the
houses in the heavily devastated area were uninhabitable.
The crucial task of demining was another priority
following an explosion which resulted in the first KFOR casualties,
said a UN spokesman. The United Nations has deployed demining
experts as part of its current 40-strong advance team and expects
to have between 50 and 70 deminers on the ground next week.
UN officials in Kosovo
confer with ethnic Albanian leaders on future political arrangements.
JUNE 22 -- The acting head of the United Nations mission in Kosovo
plans to bring together ethnic Albanian signatories to the Rambouillet
Agreement and a local Serb political leader to discuss interim
political arrangements for the province, a UN spokesman said on
Tuesday.
The Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General
Sergio Vieira De Mello has been meeting over the last two days
with a Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leader Thaci, who goes only
by his nom de guerre, said Spokesman Fred Eckhard. The Secretary-General's
Special Envoy for the Balkans, Carl Bildt, joined Monday's meeting.
Within the next few days, the three other ethnic
Albanian signatories to the Rambouillet Agreement will be in Pristina
and Mr. Vieira De Mello plans to ask them to be part of an advisory
council he is forming to discuss interim political arrangements.
Meanwhile, the growing tide of returning Kosovo
refugees has swelled the population of the provincial capital
Pristina, which now stands at approximately half its normal size.
The return has been accompanied by a rise in the crime rate, according
to UN reports.
Troops from the international military force,
know as KFOR, are responsible for maintaining security, including
law and order, until the UN Interim Administrative Mission in
Kosovo (UNMIK) re-establishes a civilian police force and installs
international police monitors to oversee their work.
United Nations faces unprecedented
tasks in Kosovo, says head of UN mission.
JUNE 21 -- Describing the United Nations role in Kosovo as its
greatest challenge since the concept of peacekeeping began in
the 1940s, the acting head of the UN mission in the battered province
said the world body had never before undertaken such broad and
far-reaching executive tasks.
"The UN has been assigned the enormous
task of rebuilding Kosovo into a functioning, democratic, tolerant
and autonomous society," said Sergio Vieira de Mello, the
Secretary-General's interim Special Representative in Kosovo.
He was speaking at a press conference in Pristina on Sunday, after
making a public announcement spelling out the authority of the
head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Mr. Vieira de Mello said he would perform the
executive functions of government until new legitimate authorities
were established. In the next few days, he would appoint international
interim administrators at the district and municipal level, deploy
an international civilian police force and take steps to re-establish
a multi-ethnic and democratic judicial system.
International organizations such as the European
Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) would help to implement these and other responsibilities,
said Mr. Vieira de Mello. The international military force, known
as KFOR, would ensure public safety and order until UNMIK could
assume full responsibility for that task, he added.
Leading an advance team, Mr. Vieira de Mello
arrived in Pristina on 13 June, three days after the Security
Council had adopted a landmark resolution authorizing the UN mission.
His team had already formed close working relations with local
authorities to maintain and develop civil administration, utilities,
justice and media, he said.
"We have already met with a broad range
of political figures in Kosovo. In the coming days we will establish
proper consultative mechanisms to fully engage them and the local
population in our work. The full participation of the people of
Kosovo will be essential to our joint success," he said.
Meanwhile, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Monday
appointed senior officials who will be responsible for two major
components of the UN mission. Dominique Vian was named Deputy
Special Representative for the interim civil administration, while
Dennis McNamara, UNHCR's Special Envoy for the region, was appointed
Deputy Special Representative in charge of refugee return and
humanitarian assistance.
Kosovo refugees return
home in growing numbers -- UNHCR.
JUNE 21 -- Ever-growing waves of refugees are abandoning camps
in Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and returning
to their homes in Kosovo, the United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) said Monday.
More than 60,000 refugees in the two neighbouring
countries returned to the battered province over the weekend,
UNHCR said, bringing the total number of returnees so far to nearly
140,000. Most of those going back have been travelling in their
own cars and tractors, while others have hired taxis or minivans.
According to UNHCR, fewer than 35,000 of 112,000
refugees remain in Kukes, Albania, near the Kosovo border, while
less than 5,000 are still in camps. In the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, more than 27,000 refugees headed for home, bringing
the total to 49,500 that have already returned.
Meanwhile, UNHCR said truck convoys delivering
food and other relief supplies continued to fan out from the Kosovo
capital of Pristina, reaching as far west as Pec. Aid agencies
are also drawing up plans to use helicopters for airlifting urgently
needed relief supplies to remote and inaccessible areas.
In a related development, UNHCR reported that
some 150 medical personnel who had been seeking refuge in Montenegro
volunteered to return to Kosovo to begin work in hospitals as
doctors, nurses and aides.
The UN agency also launched an effort to assist
an estimated 50,000 displaced Kosovo Serbs. On Saturday, UNHCR
dispatched a relief convoy with 140 metric tonnes of aid to ten
municipalities in central Serbia which have the largest concentrations
of displaced Serb Kosovars.
Head of UN mission in
Kosovo welcomes KLA's agreement to disarm.
JUNE 21 -- The acting head of the UN mission in Kosovo on Monday
welcomed the announcement that the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA)
had signed an agreement with KFOR, the international military
force, to disarm.
Speaking to the press in Pristina, after an
announcement that the agreement had been signed on Sunday night,
the Secretary-General's acting Special Representative, Sergio
Vieira de Mello, described the KLA's undertaking as "a very
good news". It meant that armed people would no longer be
roaming Kosovo's streets, he said.
Mr. Vieira de Mello also said the agreement
would facilitate the work of the United Nations Interim Administration
Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), particularly in the deployment of police.
The signing of this document is very important
since it means that UN police will be deployed by the end of the
week and take possession of police stations currently controlled
by the KLA, the Special Representative said. "They can then
play the traditional role of civilian police, in urban centres
and elsewhere in the province, side-by-side, with the international
military force."
UN war crimes tribunal's
investigative teams start probes in Kosovo.
JUNE 21 -- Investigative teams from the United Kingdom and the
United States are in Kosovo working for the International Criminal
Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, a UN spokesman said on Monday.
The teams, which have been in the Yugoslav province
for four days, have begun investigating war crime scenes at seven
sites mentioned in the Tribunal's indictment of President Slobodan
Milosevic, said the spokesman.
On 27 May the Tribunal indicted President Milosevic
and four other senior Yugoslav and Serb officials for crimes against
humanity in Kosovo and issued warrants for their arrest.
The US and UK teams, which started their investigations
at Velika Krusa, will be joined by investigators from other nations
this week to help with additional sites at Racak, where there
was a massacre in January, as well as Blavo Crkva, Djakovica,
Crkolez and Izbitza.
Secretary-General appeals
to all Kosovars to show "utmost restraint and patience".
JUNE 18 -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Friday appealed to
all parties and every citizen in Kosovo to show "utmost restraint
and patience" as the long and hard work of peace-building
and construction begins.
"The United Nations and KFOR are committed to helping you
-- the people of Kosovo -- create a peaceful, democratic and multi-ethnic
society," the Secretary-General said in a statement.
Mr. Annan also urged the Kosovar Albanian population
to return to their homes -- but to be patient and do so with the
assistance of the United Nations and the international security
force, known as KFOR. "I urge the Serbian population in Kosovo
to remain in their homes and to do their part to return Kosovo
to a life of peaceful coexistence amongst all communities,"
he said.
The Secretary-General stressed in his appeal
that the United Nations and KFOR were committed to ensuring the
safety and security of all the people of Kosovo, regardless of
ethnic background.
"I urge all parties to recommit themselves
to creating a life of peaceful coexistence, which is the foundation
for lasting peace in Kosovo, and throughout the region,"
Mr. Annan said.
UN advance team in Kosovo
pushes ahead with efforts to restore basic services.
JUNE 18 -- United Nation efforts to push ahead with the massive
task of restoring normalcy to a shattered Kosovo continued Friday,
as Sergio Vieira de Mello, the UN Secretary-General's Acting Special
Representative, finalized plans for a mine action centre.
The Mine Action centre will open in Kosovo's
capital Pristina by early next week, according to a UN spokesman.
The international military force in Kosovo, KFOR, is responsible
for supervising demining until the civilian component of the UN
mission in Kosovo can assume responsibility. Currently, there
are four civilian deminers in Kosovo and more are on the way,
said the spokesman.
Meanwhile, Mr. Vieira de Mello's staff concluded
an agreement on Friday with the Power and Water Authority in Kosovo.
The spokesman said the agreement will provide more security to
technicians working to restore service. Parts of Pristina had
water on Friday.
Mr. Vieira de Mello, who is acting head of the
UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), also visited
by helicopter areas where widespread destruction and displacement
has been reported, including the towns of Djakovia, Pec, Drnica
and Orahovac.
UN refugee agency receives
pledges of cooperation from Kosovo Liberation Army.
JUNE 18 -- The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has received
assurances from the Kosovo Liberation Army leadership of full
cooperation with the UN's relief programme in Kosovo, the UN agency
said on Friday.
KLA leaders told Assistant High Commissioner
Soren Jessen-Petersen that they would caution refugees against
rushing to return to their homes until Kosovo was declared safe
by the international security force, KFOR.
More than 50,000 Kosovars have headed home from
neighbouring countries in the last three days and more are on
their way. UNHCR said it wants the refugees to return soon, but
feels they must go back safely. The UN agency said many parts
of Kosovo remain insecure, the withdrawal of Yugoslav troops is
still under way and there has been no thorough survey of the landmines
and unexploded ordnance which litter the countryside.
In response to Mr. Jessen-Petersen's statement
that it would be a pity if peace in Kosovo began with an exodus
of Serbian civilians, the KLA said its members would act with
restraint in dealing with the local Serb population. It also said
it will let the International Criminal Tribunal for the former
Yugoslavia deal with war crimes suspects.
Meanwhile, UNHCR and the World Health Organization
say they need more medical staff. UNHCR has appealed to Kosovar
professionals -- doctors, engineers, administrators, judges and
lawyers -- to return to help rebuild Kosovo's war-damaged infrastructure.
The agency estimates that 50,000 to 60,000 Serbs have left Kosovo
in the last three weeks.
Deputy Secretary-General
briefs Security Council on preparations for UN civilian operation
in Kosovo.
JUNE 17-- Deputy Secretary-General Louise Frechette briefed the
Security Council on Thursday about preparations for the UN's massive
civilian operation in Kosovo.
The UN mission will undertake a multiplicity
of tasks, including humanitarian relief, safe return of all refugees,
reconstruction of key infrastructure, maintenance of civil law
and order, promotion of human rights and assistance with a political
process to determine Kosovo's future political status.
Ms. Frechette has just returned from Geneva
where she met with officials from the European organizations that
will play a lead role in implementing the mandate of the UN Mission
in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Speaking to journalists outside the Security
Council chamber, Ms. Frechette said the European officials welcomed
the Secretary-General's proposal for UNMIK's role and structure
and were prepared to assume their responsibilities.
According to the Secretary-General's proposal
for the Mission, the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) will lead institution-building and the European
Union will head reconstruction and development. The UN itself
will oversee the civil administration, while the UN High Commissioner
for Refugees (UNHCR) will be responsible for humanitarian affairs.
"We are now going to work very closely
with them to define in great detail how the division of labour
will operate," said the Deputy Secretary-General. "We
also spent quite a bit of time discussing very mundane administrative
issues but which will have to be resolved quickly if we want this
operation to function smoothly and seamlessly," she added.
UN forensic experts gain
access to reported torture site in Kosovo's capital.
JUNE 17-- Forensic experts from the International Criminal Tribunal
for the Former Yugoslavia have gained access to an alleged war
crimes site in Kosovo's capital Pristina, a UN spokesman said
on Thursday.
The Tribunal's investigators were able to enter
the Yugoslav police headquarters, a reported torture site, after
it was secured four days ago by Kosovo Forces (KFOR).
On Wednesday night, the forensic experts took
out several cartons of files for possible use in an investigation,
the spokesman said.
Acting head of UN Kosovo
mission confers with Patriarch of Belgrade on Serb exodus from
province.
JUNE 17-- The acting head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
and the commander of the Kosovo Forces (KFOR) on Thursday discussed
the exodus of Serb civilians with the Patriarch of Belgrade who
is visiting Pristina, said a UN spokesman.
During the meeting, Sergio Vieira de Mello,
the Secretary-General's Acting Special Representative, and Lieutenant
General Michael Jackson discussed with the Patriarch the impact
the Serb departure could have on Kosovo institutions, including
its health facilities.
According to the UN spokesman, Serb doctors
and support staff have abandoned the main hospital in Prizren.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says there is no
water in Pristina because Serb staff who operated the city's water
system have all left.
Meanwhile, Mr. Vieira de Mello stepped up his
contacts with local community leaders. On Thursday, he met with
representatives from all three Kosovo Albanian political parties
that have endorsed the UN Mission and pledged their support for
a multi-party democracy in the province.
At the request of the Yugoslav Foreign Ministry,
the Special Representative was also expected to meet with Nubojsa
Vujovic, the newly- appointed head of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia Committee for Cooperation and Links with the United
Nations.
Thousands of jubilant
Kosovo refugees head home despite UN warnings about landmines.
JUNE 17-- More than 34,000 jubilant refugees have headed home
to Kosovo in the last three days, ignoring warnings from UN agencies
about the danger of landmines and booby traps, the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Thursday.
A UNHCR spokesman in Kosovo's provincial capital,
Pristina, said that although it was nice to see smiles on the
faces of the returning refugees it could not stress enough the
danger of spontaneous mass returns. At least two returnees were
killed in mine blasts this week in Kosovo. UNHCR said there were
eleven landmine incidents on the Kosovo side of the border Wednesday,
while UNICEF, the UN Children's Fund, reported 20.
Fewer refugees from the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia are joining the rush back to Kosovo, with only about
5,000 crossing the border at Blace in the last two days.
Meanwhile, a UNHCR expert who had flown on a
helicopter mission to survey damage to housing in southwest Kosovo,
described the scope of destruction as "shocking" and
said winterizing the homes would be extremely difficult. The original
plan was to use plastic sheeting to winter-proof at least one
room per house. UNHCR said it might have to erect tents in the
yards of homes too damaged to be immediately habitable.
UN mission in Kosovo steps
up efforts to restore normalcy to shattered province.
JUNE 16 -- The acting head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK)
has joined the commander of the Kosovo Forces (KFOR) in a television
appeal to Serbian civilians not to leave the Yugoslav province.
The joint appeal by Sergio Vieira de Mello,
who is the Secretary- General's Acting Special Representative
in Kosovo, and General Michael Jackson, was broadcast on local
television on Wednesday, according to a UN spokesman. The United
Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported, however,
that 24,000 Kosovar Serbs had entered Serbia and 9,000 more went
into Montenegro.
Meanwhile, Mr. Vieira de Mello, has asked KFOR
to conduct aerial surveys of areas with internally displaced people
to allow the World Food Programme (WFP) to deliver food to them.
WFP has already delivered 20 tonnes of bread to the town of Prizren
from their mobile bakery in Kukes, Albania.
Mr. Vieria de Mello also reviewed plans to bring
into Kosovo 150 to 200 UN Civilian Police Monitors from Bosnia
and Herzegovina as the forward contingent of a UN police force
that could eventually number more than 2,000.
The United Nations was also working on Wednesday
to restore the water supply to Pristina. A UN Disaster Assessment
and Coordination team is expected to begin repairing other utilities
on Thursday.
Thousands of Kosovar refugees
begin trek home -- UNHCR.
JUNE 16 -- A spontaneous exodus of Kosovars returning home from
neighbouring countries gathered momentum throughout Wednesday,
according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR).
At the main Albanian border point at Morini,
well over 10,000 people crossed back into Kosovo. Most people
were travelling in their own cars or tractors and were headed
for the town of Prizren. From the former Yugoslav Republic of
Macedonia, the same phenomenon occurred, the UN agency said, although
the numbers were lower. Most of the refugees had been living with
host families and were driving their own vehicles. Some had hired
taxis in Skopje.
UNHCR staff are providing the refugees with
mine awareness materials as they cross the borders. The UN agency
has also established way stations on the road to Prizren to offer
water and medical help to refugees who might need it.
UN refugee agency alarmed
by Serb exodus from Kosovo.
JUNE 15 -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
said on Tuesday it is deeply concerned about the exodus of thousands
of Serbians from Kosovo.
The UN agency said it was witnessing the same
pattern of displacements of Serbs seen in Western Slavonia in
December 1991, in the Krajina in August 1995 and in Sarajevo after
the 1995 Dayton peace agreement.
The High Commissioner's Special Envoy, Dennis
McNamara, discussed the outflow of Serb civilians with Lieutenant
General Michael Jackson, the commander of the Kosovo Force (KFOR).
The General confirmed that his troops would do their best to provide
security for all of Kosovo's citizens, but stressed that under
the circumstances, there was unfortunately a limit to what could
be done.
In an effort to stabilize the situation, UNHCR
is also talking to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and to the
Serbian leadership in Kosovo. However, the agency said tensions
were high and there were likely to be more departures.
Serbs arriving in Montenegro say they fear reprisals
and are uncertain of their future in Kosovo. UNHCR is using both
local radio and international networks to send out the message
that KFOR troops will provide security to all people regardless
of ethnicity.
UNHCR estimates 13,000 Serbs have crossed into
Montenegro since Thursday but it is not known how many Serbs are
crossing directly into Serbia. The Serb population of Kosovo is
estimated at between 100,000 and 200,000 people.
At the same time, UNHCR reported a rush of refugees
returning to Kosovo from neighbouring countries. People in cars,
tractor trailers and on foot were lined up at the borders of Albania
and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
UNHCR estimates more than 3,000 refugees in
vehicles and an indeterminate number on foot crossed back into
Kosovo on Tuesday. At least one mine explosion on the Kosovo side
of the Blace border crossing killed one returnee and injured another.
Three people from Albania were also injured in a separate mine
explosion. According to UNHCR many of the returnees were men,
apparently going to their home towns for look- and-see visits.
Meanwhile, UNHCR teams in Kosovo fanned out
to assess conditions in and around Pristina, Glogovac and in Prizren
near the border with Albania. On Monday, a multi-agency convoy
took emergency supplies to Glogovac, where 20,000 displaced people
have swollen the town's original population of 4,000. People said
they had received no relief in the last two and half months and
had to scrounge for food in the hills. The UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) reported that many people, particularly children, would
need nutritional attention.
UN Deputy Secretary-General
meets European officials in Geneva to discuss plans for UN mission
in Kosovo.
JUNE 15 -- United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Louis Frechette
arrived in Geneva on Tuesday for a series of meetings with representatives
of European organizations which will work jointly with the UN
as part of the newly-formed UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Ms. Frechette met Tuesday morning with a delegation
of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),
which will lead the institution-building effort in Kosovo on behalf
of the United Nations.
Questions of coordination also topped the agenda
of her meeting later in the day with representatives of the European
Union (EU) and the European Commission. Under Secretary-General
Kofi Annan's plan for the UN's civilian operation in Kosovo, the
EU would lead the reconstruction and development effort in the
province.
The United Nations itself will oversee the interim
civil administration in Kosovo and the UN High Commissioner for
Refugees (UNHCR) will be responsible for humanitarian affairs.
Secretary-General outlines
structure, role of UN civilian mission in Kosovo.
JUNE 14 -- Stressing that international activities in Kosovo must
be integrated with a clear chain of command, Secretary-General
Kofi Annan on Monday issued a preliminary report outlining the
structure and role of the new civilian mission which will administer
the province.
The report presented a "preliminary operational
concept" for the overall organization of the international
civil presence in Kosovo to be known as the United Nations Interim
Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK). A more detailed report will
be submitted to the Council within 30 days based on an assessment
by a UN advance team which is already in the provincial capital,
Pristina.
According to the concept outlined by the Secretary-General,
UNMIK will have four main components -- interim civil administration,
humanitarian affairs, institution-building and reconstruction
-- and will be under the overall authority of his Special Representative.
The Special Representative will coordinate the
activities of all UN agencies and international organizations
and also facilitate the political process which will determine
Kosovo's future political status. Special units will be set up
to provide political and legal advice and to liaise with the military
and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Four Deputy Special Representatives will be
responsible for each of UNMIK's components. To ensure effective
cooperation on the ground, each component will be assigned to
an agency that will take a lead role in a particular area. The
United Nations itself will oversee the interim civil administration,
while the UN High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) will be responsible
for humanitarian affairs. The European Union will be the lead
agency in reconstruction efforts, with the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) playing the lead role in institution-building.
Commenting on the challenges facing the new
mission, Deputy Secretary-General Louis Frechette told a news
conference at UN Headquarters that UNMIK will be an innovative
operation.
"I think it is a new type of mission because,
in the past, every aspect of a mission was carried out by the
United Nations and by United Nations personnel," Ms. Frechette
said, noting that this time the UN had been asked by the Security
Council to work out the implementation of the civilian part of
the mandate with the assistance of other organizations.
"Therefore, we will have to have systems
on the ground, and between and among headquarters, that will ensure
that, indeed, we don't trip over one another," said the Deputy
Secretary-General.
UN opens headquarters
in Kosovo.
JUNE 14 -- The United Nations on Monday reported the establishment
of its "operational presence" in Kosovo over the weekend
and said it had begun setting up the Pristina headquarters for
the massive international civilian operation that will provide
a temporary administration for the province in accordance with
last week's decision by the Security Council.
On Sunday, Sergio Vieira de Mello, acting Special
Representative of the Secretary-General for Kosovo, arrived in
Pristina with a 40-strong advance team that has begun laying the
groundwork for the UN mission, the United Nations Interim Administration
in Kosovo (UNMIK).
Last Friday, Secretary-General Kofi Annan appointed
Mr. Vieira de Mello, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs, as his Special Representative, on an interim basis. The
Special Representative will be the top civilian administrator
in Kosovo until the province is able to enjoy substantial autonomy
and self-government.
Mr. Vieira de Mello had already met with the
commander of KFOR (the Kosovo Force) and had held several meetings
with community leaders around the province who could help the
UN mission in building Kosovo's democratic institutions.
Meanwhile, KFOR has notified the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia of the existence of
various mass grave sites and is reportedly securing them, a UN
spokesman said in New York on Monday. An initial forward planning
presence on the ground is preparing for the arrival of a team
of investigators.
UN agencies begin distributing
emergency relief inside Kosovo as Serbs stream out of province.
JUNE 14 -- United Nations humanitarian agencies are distributing
emergency aid to thousands of people in Kosovo as displaced ethnic
Albanians begin to trickle back to their towns and villages, a
UN spokesman said on Monday.
The agencies aim to distribute relief to people
in Stimlje southwest of Pristina and in Kosovska Mitrovica in
northern Kosovo, said the spokesman. Assessment teams set out
for these places early Monday and trucks will move into those
areas as soon the road is safe.
The plans laid out by the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) call for immediate aid to an
estimated half a million displaced people in desperate conditions
believed to be concentrated in areas that saw heavy fighting between
Serb forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) over the last
16 months.
A small team of liaison officers from UN humanitarian
agencies accompanied the first KFOR (the Kosovo Force) troops
into the province over the weekend and a 50-vehicle humanitarian
convoy with 250 tons of relief aid reached Pristina. A second
40-vehicle convoy arrived in the provincial capital on Monday
and four trucks carried 50 tonnes of emergency supplies to an
estimated 18,000 to 20,000 displaced persons in Glogovac.
The relief is being delivered by UNHCR, the
UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).
UNHCR, which is overseeing all humanitarian
operations in Kosovo, believes that up to 500,000 refugees may
return to Kosovo from Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia within three to four months. The agency says assistance
programmes in the asylum countries will need to continue for the
foreseeable future, and most likely through the winter.
Meanwhile, UN staff in Kosovo have reported
seeing convoys of Serbian civilians leaving on Sunday for Serbia
proper. In Montenegro, UNHCR's office in Podgorica reported a
steady flow of civilians of Serb and Montenegrin origin arriving
from Kosovo.
There has been no official report on the number
of Serbs who have left Kosovo, according to UNHCR. The agency's
Belgrade office hopes to be able to assess the situation around
Nis, in central Serbia, where many people are reported to be arriving.
UNHCR says it is extremely worried that the peace in Kosovo may
be starting with a new exodus, that of Serbian civilians, and
hopes the KFOR deployment will provide the necessary security
for all civilians to remain in and return to their homes.
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