UNHCR South-eastern Europe Information Notes

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1 31 May 2001 UNHCR South-eastern Europe Information Notes Covering Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and its Kosovo province, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Albania. Issued every month. The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Refugees fleeing fighting in Macedonia arrive in Kosovo. H.Caux, UNHCR At a Glance: Macedonians flee fighting in northern Macedonia Peace deal in Presevo Valley, southern Serbia Inter-ethnic violence in Republika Srpska Croatian government to return all refugees by end 2002 Inside this issue: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia 2 Kosovo 4 Bosnia and Herzegovina 5 Croatia 5 Number of People Displaced by the Situation in FYROM 6 Map of Southern Serbia and Kosovo 7 Estimate of Refugees and Displaced Persons still seeking Solutions 8 A new round of violence erupted in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia early in May. Clashes between the Macedonian army and ethnic Albanian rebels which first began in February, flared with renewed intensity at the beginning of the month in a string of villages north of Skopje, displacing thousands of civilians and trapping others in the crossfire. This latest fighting led to serious concern about an escalating humanitarian tragedy. Up to 1,000 people a day were fleeing their villages towards the nearby town of Kumanovo, near the border with Yugoslavia, while others were escaping across the mountainous border into Kosovo and southern Serbia. Many villagers left on foot, pushing carts and wheelbarrows containing their possessions. Others traveled with little more than the shirts on their backs. In all, some 38,000 people have sought refuge within Macedonia and in neighbouring Kosovo and Serbia since the fighting first erupted four months ago. As the fighting intensified, UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies became increasingly concerned at the plight of civilians caught -- without aid -- in the crossfire. Although there were no precise figures available, an estimated 10,000 people were trapped in rebel-held villages besieged by government forces. Some villagers were reportedly killed in the village of Slupcane, when shells hit cellars that were being used as shelters in mid May. While some aid was delivered to villages affected by the fighting, humanitarian organisations were denied access to take aid to the besieged villages and to evacuate any civilians at risk. The ICRC, however, managed to negotiate occasional access.

2 Page 2 Refugees fleeing fighting in Macedonia arrive in Kosovo H. Caux /UNHCR UNHCR was also concerned about reports of incidents in which government troops had ordered people out of villages recaptured from the rebels, and that guerillas were in turn forcing people to stay in some areas where they were under attack from the army. As a result, in late May, UNHCR urged all sides in the conflict to show respect for civilians, who should neither be forced to leave their homes or to remain in them against their will. Albanians, who make up as much as one-third of the population of 2 million. In turn, the Government has accused them of trying to carve out an ethnic Albanian mini-state. While Macedonia s new national unity government was reported to have promised to press ahead with constitutional, political and social reforms for the ethnic Albanian minority, this has had little effect in stemming the conflict thus far. The rebels said they want more rights for Macedonia s ethnic The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Southern Serbia As the situation in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia deteriorated, tensions reduced in Southern Serbia - another restless corner of the Balkans. In May, an agreement between the ethnic Albanian rebels of the UCPMB and Serbian Government officials ended an insurgency in the Presevo valley, which had lasted for more than sixteen months. Under this local peace agreement, which followed a three month peace process brokered by NATO and the EU, the rebels agreed to lay down their arms by the end of May in return for an amnesty, the creation of a multiethnic police force and a programme of economic aid. The agreement paved the way for Yugoslav troops to enter villages formerly held by the rebels in territory that had been off limits Ethnic Albanian villagers cross the bridge for the first time in months following the demilitarisation of Lucane. The bridge marked the frontline between ethnic Albanian fighters and Serb security forces. M. Shinohara / UNHCR since June The NATO-sponsored operation was the final phase of a gradual return of security forces to a 5 km-wide buffer zone established along the border with Kosovo. The buffer was established as part of the Military Technical Agreement on Kosovo that ended nearly three months of NATO bombing of Yugoslavia. It was designed to separate NATO in Kosovo from the Yugoslav army, enemies at the time. But the zone turned into a haven for ethnic Albanian armed groups who used it to attack Serb police.

3 Page 3 These women lived behind a locked gate for six months during fighting in the village of Lucane, southern Serbia. They came out for the first time when a peace agreement was signed by Albanian fighters and Serb authorities in May. M. Shinohara / UNHCR UNHCR increased its monitoring presence in the Presevo valley as tensions rose in anticipation of the return of Yugoslav forces to the area. Villagers were showing signs of nervousness, with some leaving for Kosovo as a preemptive measure. Nonetheless, most villagers were getting on with their daily lives and there was no mass exit. The negotiations had earlier seemed to be foundering when fighting flared in the village of Oraovica, causing more than 1,500 villagers to flee to Kosovo and fuelling fears that the conflict would escalate dramatically. However, intensive negotiations led to a withdrawal of the rebels from the town. This was followed by another agreement by both sides to withdraw from the village of Lucane. The demilitarisation of Lucane was an important, symbolic event, since Lucane had been the frontline between Serbian special police and rebel forces, and the place where most of the peace talks were conducted. UNHCR welcomed the withdrawal of forces from Lucane, since the office had long promoted this demilitarisation and the establishment of a humanitarian space around the school in the village. When both parties withdrew from Lucane on 17 May, the population was euphoric. Over 300 villagers, who had been too afraid to return to their houses on the bank of the river occupied by Serbian police, immediately crossed the river to visit their houses for the first time in six months. UNHCR delivered aid to some 200 of the villagers, to help them return home. Many of the houses that had been occupied by the Serbian police will, however, require substantial repairs before the houses are habitable again. The entry into the last part of so-called sector B took place on 31 May, following the agreement, without serious problems. Progress in the implementation of confidence-building measures by the Serbian authorities, in particular the creation of a multi-ethnic police force, will now be crucial to reduce the residual fear and mistrust of the local Albanian population. The OSCE is aiming to train at least 400 Serbian and Albanian officers in a new multiethnic police force for the area. On 11 May, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Ruud Lubbers, wrote to the North Atlantic Council and the Chair of the OSCE to underline the importance of moving forward quickly on this critical confidencebuilding measure. UNHCR will be stepping up its efforts, along with other UN sister agencies, to work with local authorities on creating conditions to pave the way for the return of up to 20,000 Albanians who have been displaced into Kosovo since the conflict began. Some 2,000 persons were estimated to have already returned to the Presevo valley by the end of the month.

4 Page 4 Kosovo Leader of Roma community in Kosovo at a UNHCR-organised meeting between Albanian and Roma leaders aimed at improving the treatment of Roma communities in the province. H. Caux / UNHCR While Kosovo is struggling to rebuild its infrastructure after the devastation of the war in 1999, it must also cope with new waves of displaced people from neighbouring conflicts. Almost 20,000 Macedonians have sought refuge in Kosovo since the fighting started in February, with more than 10,500 having arrived since the fresh outbreak of fighting in May. Since the beginning of May, over 8,000 Albanians had fled southern Serbia to Kosovo, bringing the total of those who have arrived in Kosovo from the Presevo valley to almost 20,000 since the conflict began almost sixteen months ago. UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies provided aid to the refugees, most of whom were accommodated with host families, often relatives or friends. Many Kosovars saw this as an opportunity to repay the people of Macedonia who had sheltered them during the Kosovo conflict in Nonetheless, the refugee influx is placing a strain on local resources, which are already stretched thin following the 1999 conflict - which devastated up to a quarter of Kosovo s housing. It is also placing additional pressure on Kosovo s non-albanian minority population to leave and free-up further housing. Minorities are already the subject of ongoing, virulent discrimination and attack from extremists among the majority Albanian population in Kosovo. A high-level meeting between Kosovo Albanian and Roma leaders and UN chiefs on the treatment and return of Roma communities took place during the first week of May. Security continued to be the main preoccupation of Roma, Ashkalija and Egyptian communities in Kosovo, and constitutes the single most important impediment to return of the displaced. Minority communities remain the target of discrimination, and have limited freedom of movement as a result of the adverse security environment. Other prime factors in driving Roma communities out from Kosovo include forced eviction, illegal occupation, and coercion to sell their properties. The aim of the meeting was to allow the people themselves to openly discuss their problems with the Kosovo Albanian, UNMIK and KFOR leadership, in a bid to work towards possible solutions. This was another step forward in a process set in motion a year ago by UNHCR, with the adoption of the Platform for Joint Action aimed at addressing the problems of Roma, Ashkalija and Egyptian communities. The meeting highlighted the difficult conditions they faced, while also reconfirming the commitment of local and international actors to resolving problems and moving forward.

5 Page 5 Bosnia and Herzegovina Violence in May marred attempts to begin the reconstruction of two mosques that had been destroyed during the war in the Bosnian Serb towns of Banja Luka and Trebinje. Bosnian Serb extremists in Banja Luka assaulted Muslims attending a ceremony to lay a cornerstone for the new mosque, and forced international officials attending the event to take refuge inside a nearby Islamic community centre. In an incident considered to be the worst instance of interethnic violence since the signature of the Dayton Peace Accords in November 1995, the angry mob torched the cars and buses that had carried Muslims to the event. A similar incident took place in Trebinje, just a few days earlier, when a crowd also attempted to prevent the start of rebuilding work on a mosque. The destruction of mosques and other religious sites was a central part of the campaign to drive Muslims and Croats from Serb areas during the war. Their reconstruction is seen as an important signal that those who were driven out in the ethnic cleansing campaigns can return and enjoy equal rights and freedom of religion in the Republika Srpska (RS). These incidents therefore provided a worrying setback in the slowly improving climate for minority returns to the RS, where there has been an increase the number of Bosniaks and Croats who have gone home over the past year. Croatia In May, the Croatian Government announced that all refugees and displaced people from Croatia would be helped to return to their pre-war homes by the end of The Government introduced a new package of measures in return areas, officially referred to as Areas of Special State Concern. These areas are among the poorest and least developed in Croatia. Economic damage caused by the war affected these areas particularly badly. The measures will address the issues which are most important to returning refugees, such as repossession and reconstruction of property, improvements in the provision of education, health-care and infrastructure, economic revitalisation, loans for small business, as well as alternative accommodation for those occupying refugee houses. Greater international financial support for the return process continues to be required. UNHCR has projects which provide a social safety net for the most vulnerable returning refugees, particularly the elderly, and which help younger families get back on their feet through shelter repairs and small economic grants. In 2002, however, UNHCR will gradually pull out of these activities, and the integration of returnees will need to be sustained by development activities and local structures. While house reconstruction and other limited support is currently being funded by international donors, development activities that could boost the economy in areas of return are still inadequate. UNHCR continues to advocate the need for greater support with bilateral donors and within the framework of the Stability Pact. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees South-Eastern Europe Operation Tel: (41 22) Fax: (41 22) youngk@unhcr.org Web:

6 Page 6 Number of People Displaced by the Situation in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) since February 2001 On 31 May 2001, a total of approximately 38,000 fyrom citizens were reported to have been displaced since the conflict began in February This group includes people displaced in earlier clashes in February/March, who have not yet returned, together with those displaced by renewed fighting which started in May. Of these, some 14,719 were registered within fyrom, some 19, 625 were registered in Kosovo, and an estimated 3,000 had arrived in Preševo valley in southern Serbia. Of these, the total number of new arrivals since renewed fighting on 3 May 2001, stands at 10, 929 in FYROM, 10,625 in Kosovo, and 3,000 in southern Serbia. Table 1: Arrivals from FYROM in Kosovo during May, 2001 DATE BLACE (Official Border crossing) BLACE (Unofficial Border crossing) JAZINCE (Official Border crossing) Stancic area(chickenleg) Mountains into DRAGASH and ZUPHA VALLEY (PRIZREN AOR) From FYROM thru PreshevoValley- MUCHIBABA/Ga te 5 border crossing into KOSOVO 01-May May May May May May-01 1, , May-01 1,500 1, , May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May May-01 0 TOTAL 4,920 2,491 1, , ,625 TOTAL Total: 10, 625 (*1)Those with passports can cross the official Blace border crossing from fyrom into Kosovo ; those without passports take the mountain route to the so called unofficial border crossing at Hani I Elezit/Deneral Jankovic.