| WASHINGTON
- May 18 - Many Kosovar refugees in northern Albania are not receiving adequate
international aid because they are housed in host families. They are fast running
out of money to pay for food and shelter and have no access to basic medical care.
These are the findings of
a survey among Kosovar refugees hosted by Albanian families, carried out by the
international medical relief organization Doctors Without Borders/Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) n late April*.
"What is often overlooked
is that only 10-15% of the Kosovo refugees in Kukes are sheltered in tented camps,"
says William Perea, Doctors Without Borders epidemiologist who led the survey.
"They are much more difficult to access than refugees in camps, and as a result
do not get the protection and assistance to which they are entitled as refugees."
None of households interviewed
had a registration card or any other document identifying them as refugees. Until
all refugees are registered properly, distribution of aid and protection cannot
be ensured. "That the majority of refugees are falling through the net is scandalous
at a time when Albania is receiving unprecedented humanitarian, political, and
media attention," says Perea. "UNHCR must register and protect these refugees
as a matter of absolute priority."
The survey found that 61%
of apartments or houses in Kukes were housing Kosovar refugees. Half of the Albanian
families not hosting refugees had done so during the preceding month. The average
number of Kosovar refugees per housing was 13. More than 60% of Kosovar households
hosted in families were paying rent. (20% paid no rent and 18.5% were staying
with relatives.) The average rent paid by families was 137 US $ per month. Even
when refugees receive food, they often need to buy additional baby food and hygiene
items. Many are running out of money.
At the time of the survey,
20% of the refugees in the host families had not received food aid at all. Since
then, distributions have been taking place. However, the vulnerability of this
population remains a major concern.
Refugees are also vulnerable
to abuse in the community such as organized crime, including extortion. In one
refugee camp run by MSF people have requested night-time security above anything
else, including food and water.
A further indication of
the vulnerability of the refugees is family make-up: over half of the refugee
households were female, but the proportion of females was higher among the 15-54
age group. Each household had a high number of elderly relatives (8%), many with
chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disorders that require special
medication and follow up. A third of families (34%) reported at least one member
of the household absent (not in Kukes). Over 60% of absent family members are
male, between 15 and 54 years old; 32% joined the KLA.
Results also confirm serious
human rights abuses in Kosovo. Over two-thirds (70%) of the Kosovo families reported
being physically or verbally threatened by armed militias or military forces or
terrorized by systematic acts of vandalism including burning and shelling of their
villages; 6% were compulsorily sent in collective buses or escorted to the Albanian
border by armed forces; 23% left because of fear of Serbian aggression; 43% of
deaths occurred after the beginning of the NATO offensive; 56% of these deaths
were explained by acts of violence by Serb police or military forces (out of 16,
7 male adults and 2 children under 10).
*The Doctors Without Borders
(MSF)/Epicentre survey was conducted between 25th and 27th of April, in Kukes,
Northern Albania among 195 houses or apartments. Two weeks after initial survey
was conducted, information about the problems refugees are facing, the makeup
of their families and what they have been through is still representative. Detailed
explanations concerning the causes of the "departure" from Kosovo were obtained
from 197 families housed in families and tractor camps.
Doctors Without Borders
is the world's largest independent international medical relief agency aiding
victims of armed conflict, epidemics, and natural and man-made disasters, and
others who lack health care due to geographic remoteness or ethnic marginalization.
Each year the organization sends more than 2,000 doctors, nurses, other medical
professionals, and logisticians to provide medical aid in more than 83 countries.
Note: to guarantee its independence
and impartiality in the Kosovo crisis, MSF is not accepting funding from NATO
member governments for any of its relief programs in the region.
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