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A sea of refugees crowd into camps that lack sanitation or shelter in Blace, Macedonia RELATED VIDEO CNN's Matthew Chance reports that many of the refugees who have fled to Macedonia are relying heavily on relatives and Macedonia's government for food and shelter (April 2) Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Aid agencies are calling the refugee crisis "catastrophic." CNN's Richard Blystone talks with aid workers April 2 Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K CNN's Chris Burns talks to exhausted ethnic Albanian refugees entering Albania from Yugoslavia on April 1 Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K To view the latest video streams on the strikes in Yugoslavia, use the arrow buttons below to scroll through the video gallery. Real Windows Media   28 K 80 K    ALSO: Missiles knock out key targets in central Belgrade Voices of refugees Government takes over independent Yugoslav radio station Montenegro fears Yugoslav takeover  MESSAGE BOARD Crisis in Kosovo INTERACTIVE: Image Galleries: Kosovo Refugees The refugee children of Kosovo RELATED AUDIO CNN's Mike Boettcher talks to Chris Thomas of the Red Cross Saturday about dire refugee conditions in Blace, Macedonia. Grave health concerns 374K/16 sec. AIFF or WAV sound People living in mud 374K/12 sec. AIFF or WAV sound Wait days for medical attention 498K/24 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

April 3, 1999
Web posted at: 12:25 p.m. EST (1725 GMT)

In this story: 'A bitter and sad Easter' Germany steps in RELATED STORIES, SITES

BRUSSELS, Belgium (CNN) -- Yugoslav forces have expelled about 290,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo in the past 10 days, NATO spokesman Jamie Shea said Saturday.

That figure brings the total number forced to flee their homes over the past year to 756,000.

If refugees continue to flee Kosovo at that rate, all Albanians would be cleared from the region in less than three weeks, Shea said. ( 498 K/26 sec. AIFF or WAV sound)

Macedonia on Saturday took steps to close off its border with Yugoslavia, threatening to turn back tens of thousands of refugees. Macedonian officials said the wave of refugees streaming into the country threaten to overwhelm it. Pavle Trajanov, the former Yugoslav republic's interior minister, said Macedonia will no longer accept refugees except those en route to other countries.

"There are 55,000 refugees in Macedonia now and 50,000 more at the border," said Deputy Prime Minister Radmila Kiprijanova. "Macedonia's security could be seriously threatened. We cannot accept any more than we have now."

'A bitter and sad Easter'

About 170,000 Kosovo refugees have fled to Albania, with at least half clogging northern border points and awaiting evacuation to camps, international aid agencies reported.

"This is a bitter and sad Easter we Albanians are celebrating this year," said Albanian President Rexhep Meidani.

Refugees who have managed to reach the Kosovo border are staying in makeshift camps with no latrines and trying to keep warm and dry during intermittent rain showers and near-freezing nighttime temperatures. Some scrambled and fought over scraps of bread.

"NATO is obviously extremely concerned," Shea said. "That would be an understatement."

NATO forces in Macedonia have been put under the command of Lt. Gen. Mike Jackson, who will use them to set up camps and feeding stations, Shea said.

Jackson already has requested 1 million ready-to-eat military meals, 200,000 liters of water and enough blankets for 187,000 people, Shea added.

"It is a scene of some human misery," Jackson said. "This is ... a serious humanitarian catastrophe."

Added Chris Thomas of the American Red Cross: "(The refugees) can't be forced to stay in these conditions much longer ... It's not a good situation."

NATO plans to send 6,000 Italian troops to Albania to assist and protect aid workers there.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Strobe Talbott visited refugee camps in Albania on Saturday, vowing NATO would "see this through" and help them get back to their homes in Kosovo.

Talbott also planned to visit Macedonia, Greece and Brussels.

Germany steps in

Germany said Saturday it would take in refugees and offer aid to ease the stress on Macedonia's resources.

Chancellor accused Yugoslav President of carrying out a program of "systematic deportation."

He said Germany would send at least six army flights to Macedonia per day with tents, medical supplies, doctors and other humanitarian aid. A similar effort will be mounted in Albania, he added.

German Defense Minister Rudolf Scharping called the effort the biggest humanitarian operation the German army has ever undertaken.

Citing the need to protect its own fragile democracy and economy, Macedonia called on its neighbors and the European Union to help shelter the thousands of people heading for the Macedonian border.

"It was assessed that the security situation in the country could be seriously endangered because of the huge wave of refugees from Kosovo, which are more than 50,000," the Macedonian Security Council said after an all-night meeting.

Western observers said as many as 40,000 refugees were camped around the border post at Blace, Macedonia, as Macedonian soldiers and police sealed off the area Saturday.

Overnight rain worsened the refugees' plight, officials said.

Henia Dakkak, a Los Angeles doctor with the International Medical Corp., said 10 people had died in the past 48 hours, including a child less than a year old. About 10 babies have been delivered.

Ethnic Albanians are fleeing a widely reported offensive in Kosovo by Serb paramilitaries and Yugoslav army troops. Many say they were ordered out of their homes and out of the Serbian province by Serb forces in a campaign of "ethnic cleansing." Yugoslav officials deny those reports, saying the refugees are fleeing NATO airstrikes and fighting between Yugoslav troops and ethnic Albanian guerrillas.

Western officials estimate that nearly a third of Kosovo's population of nearly 2 million has been displaced in a year of ethnic strife.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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