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U.S. Department of State Office of the Spokesman Press Statement

Press Statement by James P. Rubin, Spokesman
March 26, 1999

U.S. Provides $8.5 Million to UNHCR for
Humanitarian Response in the Balkans

The United States is providing $8.5 million in emergency funds to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to meet the humanitarian needs of refugees from Kosovo in Macedonia, Albania, and elsewhere, and the needs of displaced persons within Kosovo. This contribution to UNHCR comes as the refugee agency is planning a high-level donors conference on the Balkans, currently scheduled for April 6 in Geneva.

The funds, provided through the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, come from $25 million in emergency refugee assistance for the region authorized by President Clinton in January.

UNHCR is the lead international agency responsible for the care and protection of refugees in the region. The funds will enable the refugee agency to provide protection and emergency shelter, food, water, and sanitation for up to 500,000 internally displaced persons and refugees. There are currently an estimated 260,000 displaced persons within Kosovo and 55,000 in the rest of Serbia and Montenegro. In addition, there are 50,000 refugees from Kosovo in neighboring countries and another 100,000 elsewhere in Europe. In just the last 4 weeks, since Serb forces escalated their offensive in Kosovo, some 60,000 people have been displaced.

The $8.5 million will help UNHCR to resume assistance inside Kosovo, once that becomes possible, and to meet humanitarian needs of expanded refugee populations in Macedonia, Albania, and elsewhere. The State Department also has informed non-governmental organizations (NGOs) who had been operating in Kosovo that they can shift U.S.-funded programs to meet humanitarian needs of refugees in nearby countries. The NGOs moved operations out of Kosovo before NATO began air strikes.

The United States also is planning to provide emergency humanitarian funds to international organizations operating in the Balkans, including more than $3 million for the United Nation’s Children Fund (UNICEF), $2 million for the International Committee of the Red Cross, approximately $900,000 for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and more than $700,000 for an immunization project to be managed by the UN World Health Organization and UNICEF.

The U.S. will continue to support fully the generous efforts of those states bordering Kosovo which have accommodated a major influx of refugees despite their limited resources. Since the Kosovo crisis began in early 1998, the United States has committed $91 million in humanitarian assistance to the region.

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