Crisis in the Balkans - Situation ReportNo. 38

 Joint Federation / ICRC Situation Report  

 RED CROSS & RED CRESCENT INFORMATION  

 This report is published thrice-weekly as a general update on Red Cross Red Crescent activities during the Balkans crisis, targeting primarily the Movement's components and supporters.  

 LATEST EVENTS  

 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia  

The number of temporarily displaced persons within Yugoslavia is on the rise and increased appeals for aid are being made to various Red Cross branches throughout the country. The largest number of registered displaced has been recorded in Vojvodina, and figures up to mid-May show that 19,245 people have sought assistance from the local Red Cross.

Relief distributions: Plastic sheeting has been distributed in the Vavarin region near Krusevac. Other distributions for this week include: one truckload of plastic sheeting to Kragujevac, plastic sheeting and hygienic parcels to Nis, and Norwegian Red Cross ( " NorCross " ) sets to Pristina.

Delegations: The ICRC team in Pristina has made field trips outside the capital to gather first hand impressions of the current situation. Delegates went to Kosovska, Mitrovic, Urosevac and Prizren. The team participated in distributions made by the Pristina branch of the Kosmet Red Cross. Each beneficiary received a hygiene parcel and two litres of vegetable oil. Boxes of dressing materials and surgery sets were donated to hospitals in Prizren and Pristina.

 Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia  

According to UNHCR, of the 610 refugees who arrived in FYRO Macedonia 31 May and 1 June, most are entering at Tabanovce and Jazince and other unofficial border crossing areas by the mountain passes, not through the main border crossing at Blace.

Departures under the humanitarian evacuation programme totalled 2,593 (29-31 May), bringing the overall count to 73,319. Destinations were Austria, Denmark, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.

Relief distribution: The latest figures from the Macedonian Red Cross: 145,307 refugees are now registered in 25,179 host families; 98,087 refugees (including 7,210 babies) living with host families have received the May distributions of hygiene parcels, blankets and mattresses; food distributions are completed for 26 branches. Distributions for Skopje, Kumanovo and Tetevo branches are on-going. May distributions to refugees living in host families: 47,216 hygiene parcels; 28,394 blankets; 24,793 mattresses. May distributions to host families: 14,138 hygiene parcels. (through 1 June)

Health: The German Red Cross field hospital serves 41,000 refugees in both Stenkovec I & II camps, in the past week (23-29 May), the number of out- and in-patients has increased considerably. There were a total of 404 patient consultations, 281 were new cases and 67 of these were children. The average number of out-patients reached 52 per day (37 during the previous week), 8 daily admissions on average. The average bed occupancy for the week ending 29 May was 61%. There were 13 births and 11 surgeries performed. (23-29 May) There have been no epidemics of communicable diseases. The tuberculosis programme in collaboration with WHO continues.

The German Red Cross hospital at Stenkovec/Brazda is also the referral hospital for Stenkovec II camp, the two camps now have a population of 41,000. The hospital's water supply is provided by the German Red Cross specialised water ERU has produced an average of 20,000 litres of high quality water per day during the past week, covering all health posts in Stenkovec-Brazda camp.

The Norwegian Red Cross (NRC) is caring for in-patients at Cegrane Camp, where thousands of recently arrived refugees have been sent.

Last week the total number of admissions increased from 475 to 740. At the end of May, there were 692 out-patients at the hospital. The average bed occupancy for the week ending 29 May was 40%, up from 31% the previous week. There were 13 births and 15 surgical operations. during the final week of May. A 15-bed isolation unit has been established and there is an on-going vaccination program to prevent measles. Dehydration in children and the elderly, psychiatric diseases and tuberculosis are the biggest health issues in the camps.

The NRC hospital staff takes care of all surgical emergencies in the camps, and all medical, gynaecological and paediatric emergencies who need in-patient treatment. In addition to serving the 43,000 inhabitants of Cegrane camp, the NRC hospital takes referrals from the Senokos camp (6,900 population). The Cegrane camp is reaching its 445,000 limit of inhabitants. The UNHCR is planning for two new camps, Vrapciste for up to 12,000 people and Neraste for up to 4,000 people. The NRC will serve as the referral hospital for these new camps. 

Much time and energy has been spent in fact finding about the possibilities for referral of patients from the NRC hospital to the local and regional Macedonian hospitals. A formal agreement has been made between UNHCR and the Macedonian Ministry of Health which gives the NRC the right to refer patients. However, the hospitals are suffering a lack of medicine, medical equipment and free capacity in the wards. As the possibility of medical treatment at these hospitals is limited, the NRC hospital will take care of most of these cases. Therefore, the NRC staff has done an evaluation of the equipment necessary for the proper diagnosis and treatment of these cases, and the hospital will upgrade itself to meet these needs.

Shelter: UNHCR has purchased winterised tents in Pakistan and the first shipments are to be made to the region next month. Meanwhile, work has begun at the new camp site at Vrapciste following an agreement with the Ministry of Urban Planning and Construction. Work will proceed in t hree phases. Initial construction will include camp roads and latrines and the setting up of water bladders and 50 tents. The camp is expected to hold up to 6,000 refugees.

Logistics: Dispatches from the International Federation's central warehouse on Monday-Tuesday (01 June - 31 May) included: 14,660 mattresses, 1,812 hygiene parcels (donated by Swiss Red Cross), 1,900 sheets (donated by Swiss Red Cross) given to local medical centres, 4,165 sleeping mats to Stenkovec I/Brazda camp, 600 1.5-litre bottles of mineral water were sent to the Red Cross at Tabanovce border crossing area. Deliveries included: 4,900 mattresses and 10,760 mattresses (donated by Swedish RC); from Portugal: 14,670 kg. rice,1,812 kg pasta, 235 torches and 4,300 batteries.

Warehouse capacity and other logistical arrangements have been expanded to prepare for the July program to accommodate an additional 60,000 families who are social cases.

Participating National Societies: On June 7, the French Red Cross (FRC) will begin the distribution of locally purchased food to refugees at the Balce transit camp. In addition to a daily orange for each person, the refugees will receive cheese, chicken pate and three jars of baby food every other day. The UNHCR will continue providing an emergency food ration, a blanket and a piece of soap on the first day as well as an emergency food ration every second day. For the first week the FRC will work in co-operation with Action Against Hunger, who has been the provider of food at the camp. The FRC is presently making several assessments to identify projects to assist the social cases in Macedonia.

Delegation: The Senior Red Cross Officer for the Relief Health/Psychological Support Programme is conducting an initial needs assessment mission here.

External Relations, information and publicity: International Red Cross and Red Crescent delegates conducted interviews or briefings with the following media on Monday-Tuesday (31 May - 01 June): Telma/Madeconina TV, Delo/Macedonia magazine and the London Times. Journalists who visited the Norwegian Red Cross Hospital at Cegrane camp: representatives of United Press International, DAGBLADET/Norway. A joint press conference of the Federation, ICRC and the Macedonian Red Cross with local Macedonian media is scheduled for today (2 June).

 Albania  

Some 551 people crossing the border over the last 48 hours increased the number of refugees to 463,925. According to the Emergency Management Group (EMG), there were no recorded increases in the number of people accommodated in tented camps, which held steady at 81,522 and in collective centres, which remained at 96,301. There was no change in the numbers of refugees living with host families or the number of host families.

Relief distributions: Dispatches on Monday included: some 9,800 Swedish Red Cross food parcels, 15 MT of wheat flour and 7,665 blankets to Tirana;10,368 French Red Cross food parcels and 45.6 MT of wheat flour to Durres, and 2,640 Swedish Red Cross food parcels, 5,076 French Red Cross food parcels and 19.2 MT of wheat flour to Shkodra.

Dispatches on Tuesday included: to Tirana/Durres warehouse for stock: 1,512 hygiene parcels; 7,820 individual parcels to Tirana; and 10,044 French Red Cross food parcels to Durres.

Health: Preparations are under way for the PNS meeting (11 June) which will focus on the issue of health. Assessments of various hospitals are ongoing. The hospital in the Burrel area was assessed, while a follow-up/monitoring mission was carried out in Shkodra on the donations of surgical equipment.

Discussions with Spanish Red Cross focused on the PNS's involvement in the health field in t he Durres area. The PNS is interested in the establishment of a Basic Health Unit.

A Red Cross medical team has completed its assessment of the Tirana University Hospital. The hospital urgently needs disposable material for its operating theatre.

Shelter: The EMG's Shelter Desk is merging shelter data from its own database and other NGO lists. Until the work is done, an exact overview of shelter capacity and occupancy will not be possible. The capacity in Kukes's camps is slowly decreasing, as the tents are put down after the departure of refugees to other prefectures.

In other prefectures, the occupancy of tented camps has increased by more than 10,000 during the last week alone. Additional capacity is available in tented camps that have been erected in Durres, Korce and Shkodra.

According to the EMG, the capacity of the tented camps should increase by more than 20,000 over the coming week. The 2 largest camps in the country are (according to the EMG) Hamallaj in Durres and Seman in Fier. Combined, the capacity is 45,000, but there are only 5,300 people currently situated there.

Logistics: According to the Logistics Department, arrangements were made--via the Croatian Red Cross--for the donation of stoves and hygiene parcels to the operation. A Medical Logistician has arrived in Tirana and will manage the operation's medical stock.

Telecommunications: On 31 May, the department performed a stock inventory of all telecommunications stock at the delegation. An antenna mast was put up and a HF radio was made operational at the Shkodra (setting up mast and antenna mast and HF radio) inventory.

Tracing: During the month of May (through 29 May), there were 3,538 visits to the Red Cross Tracing Office. Some 15,640 telephone calls were made by refugees to relatives living abroad, 11,574 radio messages were prepared for broadcast, 157 cases of unaccompanied vulnerable (mainly elderly) were recorded, 126 cases of unaccompanied children were reported, 93 cases of parents having lost children were opened, and 307 cases of family reunions were opened.

Participating National Societies:   The delegation from the German Red Cross is still in the country. Preparations were made by the Liaison Department for the upcoming PNS meeting which will focus on the issue of winterisation for PNSs that are operating camps in the country.

External relations:   Family reunions continue to capture the attention of the media and the viewing/listening/

reading audiences. CNN followed a delegate to a family reunion, and interviews on the subject were given to People magazine, Norsk Rikskringkasting (Norwegian television), Spanish television, JPress (Japanese press agency) and Netherlands national television.

Delegation: Of the 114 expatriates that are with the Red Cross Red Crescent operation in Albania, 40 have been contracted to the International Federation, 56 to the ICRC and the remaining 18 are members of the Emergency Response Units (ERUs). Another five (5) are scheduled to be added to the ICRC's roster.

Outstanding needs: The weekly wheat flour requirements have not yet been met.

 Kukes Report  

The official figures concerning the movement of refugees was as follows: (31 May-1 June) 334 into Kukes and (31 May-1 June) 2,624 leaving Kukes. The majority of these new arrivals were men.

Relief distribution: The second round of food distribution in Krume Municipality is now completed. Between 26 and 31 May, 6,717 refugees in host families and 756 host families received 6,846 Swedish Red Cross food parcels and 627 French Red Cross food parcels, totalling 76.15 MT of food parcels and 5 MT of wheat flour. The wheat flour was distributed to beneficiaries who were not served during the previous round of distributions. In addition, as identified in the needs assessment, 1,165 Hygiene parcels were distributed for the first time to the refugees'families.

Logistics: On 31 May and 1 June, the Kukes Sub-delegation received 11,930 French Red Cross food parcels, weighing 65.6 MT and 4.6 MT of wheat flour. Secondary deliveries were made to distribution points in Kukes Town and Krume, as follows: 9,156 French Red Cross food parcels, 10,550 of Swedish Red Cross food parcels and 5.6 MT of wheat flour.

Tracing: On 31 May and 1 June, the Protection team opened the following new cases/requests: four Red Cross messages received; six family reunification requests; one special tracing request; two tracing requests for unaccompanied minors and one medical case transmitted to Tirana. Over the same period, 899 satellite telephone calls and 313 radio messages were transmitted from the Kukes Office, Kukes Main Square and the Cap Anamor Camp.

The Protection team traced the family of a 15 year old unaccompanied minor, who will travel with his uncle on 2 June to Macedonia, where he will be reunited with his mother, father and three sisters. A family reunification of a father and son, with the rest of their family in Tirana, took place on 1 June.

 (Italian Red Cross Camp) The Italian Red Cross is responsible for all aspects of camp management, health and food in the Italian Red Cross camp (Kukes I). Due to the campaign to move refug ees south and away from Kukes, the Italian Red Cross camp currently has a refugee population of around 4,000, but if necessary can shelter a further 2,000 refugees. Cooked hot meals are provided three times a day for refugees in the camp, and refugees are increasingly preparing additional basic food items, provided by the Italian Red Cross (soup, etc. in the cooking area. As the Italian Red Cross camp is the closest camp to the Morine border, all refugees pass the camp en route to Kukes town, and are given emergency supplies by the Italian Red Cross along the road, which include: water, fruit juice, bottles of milk, fruit and biscuits. 

Health: The Italian Red Cross field hospital is extremely comprehensive, having an inpatient capacity for up to 50 patients, all the necessary wards and a small operating theatre. It is a referral hospital, but also treats many of the injured or sick new arrivals, who are often transported by ambulance from the border. It currently has 12 nurses; five doctors and five paramedics, all from Italy. In addition, it has four Red Cross ambulances. 

From 30 to 31 May, the Italian Red Cross field hospital treated a total of 294 patients, of which 113 were under 10 years old. During the same period they also organised the medical evacuation of three patients.

On 31 May and 1 June, the Finnish Red Cross basic health clinic treated a total of 610 patients. They also inoculated 28 children against polio and measles. 

Albanian Red Cross Society: The Albanian Red Cross now has two representatives from Tirana working very closely with the Sub-delegation, one of which is based in Kukes, and the other in Krume. On 1 June, the Kukes Albanian Red Cross Branch, under supervision from the Tirana representative, worked closely with the Local Authorities, who are in the process of producing an updated beneficiary list (details of refugees in host families and the host famil ies) in Kukes Town and in two Communes. Once this list is updated, the Albanian Red Cross will be verifying the details of beneficiaries, by visiting around 10% of randomly selected host families named on the list. The Albanian Red Cross Kukes Branch is also building-up the staffing capacity in preparation for the forthcoming June distributions in Kukes Town. Indeed, each distribution point in Kukes Town requires six volunteers, three to distribute to food items and three to verify the beneficiary list. The Branch is also in the process of recruited further Albanian truck drivers.

External Relations, information and publicity: A delegation from the German Red Cross, including the Secretary General, paid a one-day visit to Kukes. In addition to briefings in the Sub-delegation, they met the Albanian Red Cross and visited refugees living with host families, the Finnish Red Cross clinic, the Tracing services and the UAE Red Crescent camp.

An interview was conducted with Norwegian Television NRK, which featured the Red Cross Red Crescent convoy, focusing on the work of the Norwegian Red Cross drivers. Liberation printed an article on the work of the Protection Team, focusing on Tracing, and Associated Press also wrote an article on the work of the Protection Team, on their Tracing and Family Reunification work.

Summary: The possibility of a major influx of refugees remains. However, at present the security situation is the main area of concern for the Sub-delegation. To date it has not seriously affected the relief distributions or the protection activities.

 Bosnia and Herzegovina  

Due to the development of the situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), refugees from FRY are still coming to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), but there were no large influxes registered by the end of May. According to the UNHCR, the total number of refugees that fled to BiH since the beginning of the current crisis is approximately 104,000 people, 44,000 refugees have fled to the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBH) and 60,100 to Republika Srpska (RS).

Shelter: As of May 31, the number of refugees that found accommodation in refugee camps has increased from 7,825 last week to 7,873 today. They are accommodated in 29 refugee camps, 17 in FBH and 12 in RS, including 14 collective centres, 11 transit centres and 4 tented sites. Many refugees have found accommodations with host families.

 European Red Cross Societies' assistance to Kosovo refugees arriving in third countries  

In the autumn of 1997 six European Red Cross Societies and the International Federation met to form PERCO - " Platform for European Red Cross Co-operation on Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants " - an organisation whereby the Societies could exchange information and pool resources in connection with their domestic work for refugees and other displaced people.

By the start of the Kosovo crisis, membership had grown to eight societies plus the Federation and Red Cross Liaison Bureau in Brussels.

Following the PERCO statement made in an earlier bulletin, PERCO has prepared a table (see Annex ) showing the response of each government in the fifteen member countries of the EU, the assistance offered to refugees, the local Red Cross response and the co-operation between Societies and other entities.

 Annex  

 Ref. LG-1999-076-ENG