MACEDONIA: U-N-H-C-R AID CONVOY READY TO ENTER KOSOVO

(11 Jun 1999) English/Nat The United Nations refugee agency is making preparations to send a huge convoy of urgent aid into Kosovo. The U-N-H-C-R was refused entry into the Serb province during the 78 days the conflict lasted. The U-N-H-C-R says it's doing what it can in anticipation of nearly a million Albanian refugees returning to a shattered Kosovo. The first UNHCR convoy is ready to enter Kosovo and bring food and medical supplies to the remaining Albanian population. The UNHCR estimates 400-thousand of the 785-thousand refugees currently in Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro will return to Kosovo within the next three months. It also estimated that 50 per cent of the homes in Kosovo have been damaged or destroyed, and is warning refugees against rushing back before it is safe to do so. UNHCR special envoy to the former Yugoslavia and Albania, Dennis McNamara says the U-N is ready to deploy a convoy of urgent humanitarian relief supplies to Kosovo and to set up UNHCR offices in Pristina. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We'll go in this convoy into Pristina to set up our office again. Part of the convoy as you can see is office building. But we also have relief supplies. Food from WFP (World Food Programme), medical from UNICEF, immediate relief supplies from us and NGOs for any displaced people we find on our way. So that will be the first UN convoy in Kosovo since the conflict began." SUPER CAPTION:Dennis McNamara, UNHCR special envoy to the former Yugoslavia and Albania The UNHCR will establish a base in Pristina within the first 24 hours of KFOR deployment and within seven days they will have a presence in all the seven regions of Kosovo. The aid supply will have food, bottled water, tents, hygienic kits and blankets. Everything from way stations for the returnees to vast stockpiles of food, medicines and other supplies were being plotted inside Albania, where the bulk of the refugees have sought asylum. High-tech, mobile teams were to begin providing special identification cards for all refugees, most of whom were stripped of documentation by Serb troops and police when they left Kosovo. 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...