Mr. President. one thing that is clear is that the situation on the ground in Kosovo today is unacceptable and likely to worsen considerably in the coming weeks. The ongoing exodus as refugees flee this latest major military operation mounted by the Yugoslav Army over the last 3 weeks must be contained. This conflict has created. by some estimates. more than 400.000 refugees. A spokesman for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees estimated that 20.000 have been displaced just in the last week by military operations. most of them in the mountain range just northwest of Pristina. As we all know. Milosevic has already carried out numerous massacres and other atrocities in Kosovo. including the killing of more than 40 ethnic Albanian civilians in the village of Racak in January. Right now. there are tens of thousands of refugees on the move in Kosovo. These refugees are facing very basic problems of survival. They lack shelter. They need blankets and stoves. The fighting has knocked out the electricity and water supplies. There are people right now huddling in cellars. and in unfinished houses. with their families. According to an account in the New York Times. people who are refugees themselves are giving shelter to refugees. One family is giving shelter to 80 people. Serbian forces that have been massed on the border of Kosovo are on the march. and it is widely believed that they are planning to accelerate their advance west into the heartland of the rebel resistance and the base of its command headquarters.
Keywords matched
refugees Refugees