MACEDONIA: KOSOVO: REFUGEES GO HOME - LATEST
(17 Jun 1999) Albanian/Nat Hundreds of cars carrying ethnic Albanian refugees have been waiting to cross the border from Macedonia back home into Kosovo. Cars were lined up on Thursday for many kilometres along the winding road leading to the Blace crossing point. While hundreds of refugees have already made it across the border, many are still creeping along the road which will take them home. The refugees are returning despite warnings and fears from aid workers that landmines and other threats might await them in Kosovo before NATO peacekeepers fully secure the area. From the air, the long queue of cars and vehicles snakes for what looks to be many kilometres, packed with ethnic Albanians trying to get home. As they leave, the refugees pass by the camps which were makeshift homes to many during the NATO bombing attacks in Yugoslavia. The cars are lined up back to back along the winding road on either side of the Blace crossing point. Some refugees are waiting in their cars for the flow of traffic to move along and some are getting out of their vehicles to stretch and get some air. Even with the holdup, many of the ethnic Albanian refugees are all smiles as they wait in the queue. Kosovar refugees have been crossing the border for the last three days despite the warnings of NATO and aid organisations about the danger of landmines scattered around Kosovo. For those refugees who don't have vehicles, they are simply walking to the border post carrying with them their belongings. Once they reach the border, refugees are being greeted and searched by NATO soldiers before being allowed to cross over. According to aid agencies, over three-thousand refugees had already crossed back into Kosovo since Tuesday. For the first time since refugees began to head home, the U-N-H-C-R began issuing identification cards to the returnees, almost all of whom fled Kosovo with no documents. Macedonian authorities stamped "green cards" -- papers they issued to refugees on their arrival -- in a move that ensured those heading into Kosovo to assess the situation would be able to return to families they left behind in Macedonia, if necessary. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: / ap_archive Facebook: / aparchives Instagram: / apnews You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
