If unchecked. the violence there could well spillover into Albania and Macedonia and could at some point involve other nations in the region. including our NATO allies. Acting at the direction of Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic. the Serbian police and military units have brutally targeted civilians and used scorched earth tactics with a plan to drive ethnic Albanians out of their towns and villages. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata. around 65.000 people have been forced to flee their homes in Kosovo since March and prior to the latest Serbian special police and troop attack on the town of Belacevac. Of that number. around 12.000 have fled to neighboring Albania across treacherous mountainssome children had to walk barefoot for days. About 8.000 have fled to Montenegro and small numbers have sought refuge in Macedonia. where the United States maintains about 350 Army personnel as part of the United Nations Preventive Deployment Force.
Keywords matched
Refugees