Refugees from Kosovo in Macedonia

A Story on Television

AIM Skopje, 15 March, 1999

While high world politics and prominent diplomats are trying to persuade Belgrade and Pristina to reach an agreement on peace, in the shadow of these events, a true human drama is taking place with thousands of Albanian refugees from Kosovo as the main protagonists. Hundreds of Kosovo families from villages in the bordering region between Macedonia and Kosovo who have become the target of Serb operations of cleansing this territory are seeking refuge in Macedonia. The refugee crisis which began after the so-called military drills of Yugoslav Army (JV) in Kosovo, more precisely in the mentioned bordering region with Macedonia where on the other side of the border NATO troops are positioned persists with the same intensity for about two weeks already. According to testimonies of refugees, the reason why they left their homes are artillery attacks of the Yugoslav Army on Kosovo Albanian villages under the pretext that they are drilling in winter conditions or that they are in pursuit of members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (OVK).

Expressed in figures, the inflow of Kosovo refugees in Macedonia, mostly from surroundings of Kacanik, ranges between several hundred to one thousand a day. In the first days about two or three weeks ago, about 500 persons arrived a day, but in the past few days this number went down to one or two hundred. According to what those who have managed to come to Macedonia say, a large number of refugees are "captured" in the woods because they are mostly persons without papers who cannot cross the border legally and do not dare illegally go through the forest for fear of Serb army and police, and mine fields rumoured about a few months ago. According to testimonies of refugees, the first victims of mine fields planted at the border between Kosovo and Macedonia have fallen. Those who are arriving illegally usually choose to come across lowland, through the fields, because they believe that there are no mines in the fileds. However, those who are crossing the border legally do not fare any better. At first, Macedonian border authorities demanded that they show cash money as proof that they were really "tourists" as most of them declare themselves to be in fear of being sent back if it is established that they were refugees, although it is clear to everyone that they are people who are running for dear life. After the initial shock, Macedonian government moderated its stand and came up with the decision to give refugees from Kosovo the status of humanitarian refugees and allow them to stay temporarily in Macedonia. After this decision, the situation about the arrival of refugees eased, but it is still far from being normal.

Although the inflow of refugees from Kosovo, at least for the time being, not by a long shot resembles the apocalyptic estimates that 300 to 400 thousand Kosovans would flee to Macedonia (as president of Macedonia declared more than a year ago), since just about 13 thousand of them have arrived so far, their presence is a problem which demands an adequate treatment. Macedonian government has several times come out with declarations that it would do its best to ease the suffering of people who had come here to seek salvation, but it has done almost nothing. It came up with a precise plan that Macedonia could receive 20 thousand refugees at the most, and that reception centres would be built for this number, nothing has actually been done yet. The minister of town planning declared that he was ready to provide accommodation for the mentioned number of refugees within 24 hours, but it turned out that these were just fine words. The government has done almost nothing in other respects either to alleviate suffering of refugees. They received almsot nothing from Macedonian government, except a small aid from the Red Cross organization. The local branch office of UNHCR was not more obliging either; it has in fact become known for its indolence concerning everything that is happening in Macedonia in the domain of its mandate. The position of the refugees further aggravated by the fact that since 1 March UNPREDEP mision does not operate, which corrected negligence of all the others. UN prevention force simultaneously acted as a humanitarian organization because it helped with transportation of refugees from the bordering region to cities in western Macedonia, mostly to Tetovo which has become a specific collective centre.

The greatest interest for the destiny of Kosovar refugees is so far manifested by the Albanians in Macedonia who have on their own in the past period organised their reception at the border and accommodation in homes all around Macedonia. The usual procedure is that taxi drivers, mostly ethnic Albanians, come to border crossings and then transport refugees to humanitarian organizations managed by the Albanians who direct them to Albanian families or homes of the Albanians abroad which are empty at the moment. The most active in this period is El Hilal humanitarian organization seated in Skopje which also played an important humanitarian role during the Bosnian crisis of refugees. The president of this organization, former deputy, Abdurauf Pruthi, complained a few days ago that all efforts of his organization to provide aid from other humanitarian organizations which do not operate in the field, such as ECHO or the office of the European Commission, remained futile. Most of the aid for sustenance of refugees arrived from private donors, who are almost without exception ethnic Albanians.

Refugees who are staying in Macedonia are required to report their arrival to the authorities within two weeks, especially because many of them enter the country outside border crossings. According to certain information, however, a large percentage of those who come do not report at all because of lack of confidence and fear of being sent back, as it was customary in the past. This is the cause of disagreement about the number of refugees in Macedonia. According to official reports of the ministry of internal affairs of Macedonia there are about 8,000 refugees in this country, and according to the data of El Hilal which carefully registers all users of humanitarian aid, there are about 13 thousand refugees in the country. A few days ago, this organization has come out with the declaration that the government must take certain measures because families which have taken upon themselves care of refugees cannot fully shoulder the burden due to the general economic crisis. Help is also needed concerning education of refugee children. For the time being, this problem is solved partially, mostly at the initiative of directors of individual schools which of their own accord accept these children in schools. Although there are no official reactions, certain media (in Macedonian) have already started to raise the question of their education, especially because they are admitted in schools without the decision of the government.

The most interesting in this story without doubt is the fact that while refugees from Kosovo are the central issue for the Albanians in Macedonia which every one of them is directly or indirectly affected by, for ethnic Macedonians the crisis of refugees is just a "story on television". There is a specific silent (and partly public) agreement in Macedonia that the refugees are "the problem of the Albanians", while Macedonians join in just when "the political part of the problem" is concerned, that is, when the question is put "what this means for the demographic picture of the country". Although it is clear to everyone that ten odd thousand refugees cannot change the demographic picture of Macedonia, rumours about this problem circle the public, and the government is accused of being too "open-handed" to the refugees. So far no humanitarian aid drives have been launched, nor have there been initiatives from the Macedonian party to help the refugees, which is contrary to the intention to relax interethnic relations, especially when one knows that the problem of Kosovo plays a big if not the decisive role in these relations. Nevertheless, it is necessary to wait for the epilogue of Rambouillet in order to make the final evaluation when it will become clear whether the crisis of refugees will remain at the figure of ten thousand or whether this number will approach the apocalyptic forecasts which would seriously question internal relations.

AIM Skopje

IBRAHIM MEHMETI