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World - Europe

Focus on Kosovo
Peace Plan Highlights | Photo Gallery | Strike Assessment | News Video Archive | Strike at a Glance | Who's Who | Roots of the Conflict | Story Archive | Links | Discussion

New refugees describe forced evacuation, possible massacre

A new wave of terrified refugees fled Kosovo for the the border of Albania on Wednesday

related videoRELATED VIDEO:
CNN's Jane Arraf reports on refugees' stories of mass executions carried out by Yugoslav troops (April 28)
Windows Media 28K 80K

CNN's Tom Mintier reports on the refugee camp revival of a Kosovo Albanian-language newspaper (April 28)
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Greece, a neighbor of Albania, has set up a refugee camp in Tirana. CNN's John Psaropoulos takes a tour. (April 28)
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       Windows Media Real

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 THE DELUGE OF REFUGEES:
Where are they going?

 ALSO:
NATO renews heavy bombardment of Montenegro

Relief workers aim to improve Albanian health care

 MESSAGE BOARD:
Crisis in Kosovo
 

April 28, 1999
Web posted at: 7:53 p.m. EDT (2353 GMT)


In this story:

Relief workers see evidence of torture

More refugees push Macedonian camps to the limit

RELATED STORIES, SITES icon



MORINA, Albania (CNN) -- A new wave of terrified Kosovo refugees poured over the border into Albania on Wednesday, describing scenes of mass executions and forced evacuations by Serb forces.

About 4,000 Kosovars, mostly women, children and elderly men, entered Albania on Tuesday and Wednesday, the largest influx since more than 40,000 people crossed at Morina from April 16-18.

Many of the refugees said Serb police ordered them to flee their homes and then separated young men from the group near the village of Meja. Some said they heard gunshots behind them as they were forced to move down the road.

Ethnic Albanians who later passed Meja on their way to Albania reported seeing scores of male bodies beside the road.

"I saw 150 bodies in the field, all piled together," said one man.

While it was impossible to independently verify the accounts, the U.N. refugee agency said similarities among the accounts pointed to new atrocities and possibly a massacre.

"The stories ... seem to indicate that a lot more people have been killed over the past few days ... than in any other single case of attack before," said Kris Janowski, spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

Relief workers see evidence of torture

As NATO's air war against Yugoslavia continues, relief workers say, the Serbs are making ethnic Albanians pay an ever-increasing price.

Ajmal Khybari, a UNHCR official at the Morina border crossing, said many of the refugees show signs of mistreatment consistent with "a pattern of trauma."

"We have seen some of them who have been wounded and some of them have been brutally tortured," Khybari said. "There were wounds on their faces. Some had fractured bones in their limbs."

Meanwhile, France's ambassador to Macedonia called Wednesday for a "humanitarian corridor" to help refugees flee from Kosovo into Albania and said Macedonian camps were at the saturation point.

Jacques Huntzinger told French television that there was a need for a "transit, with the agreement of governments, toward the Albanian border."

More refugees push Macedonian camps to the limit

Another 4,000 refugees lined up to cross from the strife-torn Serbian province of Kosovo into Macedonia on Wednesday, as U.N. relief workers warned that the country's refugee camps were overflowing.

"Blace is full," said Ron Redmond, part of the U.N. staff in Macedonia.

Refugees
Many refugees showed signs of torture or were injured, relief workers said  

As many as 5,000 refugees passed through Blace on Tuesday, following an influx of 3,500 on Monday. Aid officials warned that overcrowding in the refugee camps could lead to unrest, perhaps rioting.

At Stenkovec, where as many as 40,000 refugees are awaiting transfer away from the border, aid workers say the camps have exceeded their capacity. The need for more water and sanitation facilities is a major problem.

Macedonian officials have given the go-ahead for UNHCR to start building one of three additional refugee camps it has requested.

The new camp could be in service as early as Friday and will hold about 10,000 people, relief workers told CNN.

Correspondents Jane Arraf and Bill Hemmer and The Associated Press contributed to this report.



RELATED STORIES:
Children reported killed when NATO bomb missed target
April 28, 1999
Relief workers aim to improve Albanian health care
April 27, 1999
2,100 activated reservists headed to Europe
April 27, 1999
U.S., Russian diplomats aim to end Yugoslav crisis
April 27, 1999
Red Cross: Captured U.S. soldiers 'satisfactory'
April 27, 1999
New surge of Kosovo refugees threatens to overwhelm camps
April 27, 1999

RELATED SITES:
Extensive list of Kosovo-related sites:
  • Kosovo

Yugoslavia:
  • Federal Republic of Yugoslavia official site
      • Kesovo and Metohija facts
  • Serbia Ministry of Information
  • Serbia Now! News

Kosovo:
  • Kosova Crisis Center
  • Kosovo - from Albanian.com

Military:
  • F-117s arrive at Aviano to support possible NATO operations
  • NATO official site
  • BosniaLINK - U.S. Dept. of Defense
  • U.S. Navy images from Operation Allied Force
  • U.K. Ministry of Defence - Kosovo news
  • U.K. Royal Air Force - Kosovo news
  • Jane's Defence - Kosovo Crisis


Relief:
  • U.S. Agency for International Development (Kosovo aid)
  • Doctors of the World
  • InterAction
  • International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
  • International Committee of the Red Cross
  • Kosovo Humanitarian Disaster Forces Hundreds of Thousands from their Homes
  • Catholic Relief Services
  • Kosovo Relief
  • ReliefWeb: Home page
  • The Jewish Agency for Israel
  • Mercy International


Media:
  • Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty
  • Independent Yugoslav radio stations B92
  • Institute for War and Peace Reporting
  • United States Information Agency - Kosovo Crisis

Other:
  • Expanded list of related sites on Kosovo
  • 1997 view of Kosovo from space - Eurimage
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