ALBANIA: KOSOVO REFUGEE CRISIS LATEST
(25 May 1999) Eng/Albanian/Nat NATO has begun relocating some 30-thousand Kosovo Albanian refugees from the northern frontier to safer camps deeper inside Albania. Military officials charges with the move claim the refugees could be at risk of attack from nearby Serb forces. Departing families said they were reluctant to move farther from their homeland but volunteered to go because of the potential danger and hopes for better camp conditions in the south. The refugees in the Albanian town of Kukes have already made the arduous journey from their homes in Kosovo. But as their countrymen continue to cross the border in huge numbers the camps built to house them are straining to provide the necessary shelter. On Tuesday aid agencies and NATO troops began the first phase of a relocation programme designed to relieve pressure in the camps and to provide better conditions for the refugees who leave and remain. The refugees are being moved first to the railway station at Mgede from where they will be sent to new camps further from the Kosovo border. Aid agencies expect that the outflow of refugees will continue into the summer, and as summer turns into winter the conditions in the hastily built border camps will become untenable. The camp is also close to the border, which could prove a danger if ground troops enter Kosovo or if fighting between the Serbs and the K-L-A spills across the frontier. One of the military officials charged with the relocation outlined the problems of the Kukes camp. SOUNDBITE: (English) "One hundred thousand refugees over here in Kukes. That's too much. We have to start relocating them now and not to wait till winter and even we are to close to the border so these are the reasons SUPER CAPTION: Lt-Colonel Jean-Pierre Goudsmit, Belgian Army A fleet of ten trucks provided by NATO to the U-N-H-C-R as part of the humanitarian operation Romeo, prepared to begin transporting the refugees early on Tuesday. Troops from Belgium, Poland and Holland were on hand to assist with the move. The refugees, already bewildered by their ordeal, complied readily with the orders to leave, hoping, maybe vainly, that conditions in the new camps would be better. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) "We are OK here, but I'm leaving because I have many children and the hygiene conditions here are not good. There is no place to wash them. The other reason is that they have said that we should move." SUPER CAPTION: vox pop, refugee woman The relocation began with 204 refugees carrying meagre belongings setting off in military trucks on a 24-hour road and rail journey to a U-S run camp in the south. But this leaves some 70-thousand Kosovo refugees still living with Albanian families or in informal encampments around this town of 30-thousand already reeling under the human tide. According to the U-N-H-C-R, more than 439-thousand ethnic Albanians from Kosovo have sought shelter in Albania. 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...
