Tuesday, April 6, 1999

Introduction
Human Rights Watch is gravely concerned about the plight of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have been forced to flee horrific atrocities and systematic "ethnic cleansing" in Kosovo over the past two weeks.

Human Rights Watch's researchers in the region have confirmed that Kosovar Albanians face expulsion from their homes, systematic destruction of their property, forced separation from family members, and even execution. Credible testimony from refugees indicates that the Serbian special police and/or the Yugoslav Army, as well as paramilitaries raided the homes of Kosovar Albanians in Pec, Prizren, and Dakovica, ordering the inhabitants to leave their homes and forcing them into columns and trains bound for the Macedonian and Albanian borders. The Serbian special security forces killed at least fifteen Kosovar Albanian men who were part of a convoy to the Albanian border. Witnesses described how men were selected, pulled off buses, and shot. In the Malisevo area of central Kosovo, Serbian forces dressed in police or army uniforms separated men from their families and took them to an unknown location, after which the women and children were ordered to leave their village.

Neighboring Countries
We call on all neighboring countries to keep their borders open to those fleeing Kosovo and to provide safe and swift asylum to all refugees, without conditions or restrictions.

We remain concerned at delays and other obstacles for refugees crossing into some neighboring countries. The governments of these countries, especially Macedonia, have asserted the enormous strain that such huge refugee influxes create and the de-stabilizing impact they could have on fragile inter-ethnic relations within the region. Nevertheless, such concerns do not justify closing borders or turning back refugees, as has occurred on several occasions in Macedonia. We welcome Macedonia's decision to re-open its border and call on all neighboring countries to abide by their international obligations under the 1951 Convention, in particular the fundamental principle of non-refoulement.

Emergency preparedness and international assistance
We call on the international community to continue to provide immediate financial aid, humanitarian and logistical assistance to neighboring refugee-hosting countries. We are deeply concerned at accounts that relief efforts have been slow to get off the ground and are insufficient to meet the desperate needs of the growing numbers of refugees. Human Rights Watch researchers based in the area between Kosovo and Albania report that conditions in the reception area, near Kukes, are appalling. There is almost no food, shelter, clothing, medicines, and other humanitarian assistance for the thousands of exhausted refugees crossing hourly from Kosovo. Very few relief agencies are present on the border and supplies are inadequate to deal with the current refugee influxes.

The international community must continue air lifts of emergency supplies to Macedonia and Albania and transportation must be provided to take refugees from the borders to nearby towns and refugee camps. NATO has a particular responsibility in this regard. NATO should provide UNHCR and relief agencies with essential information to enable them to anticipate, plan and prepare for new refugee flows. It is inexcusable that humanitarian agencies were not provided with the necessary information to prepare for such foreseeable refugee influxes.

Documentation
Human Rights Watch has confirmed reports that a large number of refugees entering Albania have been stripped of their passports, ID cards, car number plates, and other kinds of identifying documents when they leave Kosovo. We call on neighboring governments and UNHCR to register all refugees on arrival and to provide them with refugee ID cards that can serve as proof of identity and origin. It is extremely important that an accurate record of the places of origin of all refugees is kept in order to facilitate return in the event that it is safe for refugees to go back to their homes.

Protection
The protection of refugees is of upmost importance. We urge UNHCR to ensure that sufficient numbers of protection officers are included in emergency response teams and that the protection of refugees remains a priority in all relief efforts. The protection needs of refugee women and children are particularly pressing in this crisis.

Justice for victims
Human Rights Watch deeply regrets the departure of the last remaining international observers from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) from Kosovo on March 29 because their security could no longer be guaranteed. The absence of international observers in Kosovo does not, however, mean impunity for the perpetrators of human rights violations. We urge UNHCR and humanitarian personnel to cooperate with human rights observers and investigators for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in sharing information and collecting testimonies of atrocities from refugees. We call on the international community to ensure that the perpetrators of these crimes are swiftly prosecuted and punished.

Other asylum states
We call on all states to provide full refugee protection to asylum seekers from Kosovo. Refugees should not be contained in the South Balkan region and their freedom of movement should not be restricted in the interests of curtailing refugee flows. E.U. states and the U.S., in particular, must share responsibility for refugees fleeing atrocities in Kosovo.

In the event that a mass influx of asylum seekers makes immediate individual status determination impracticable and states extend some form of temporary protection, the full rights of the refugees must still be protected, particularly against refoulement. Temporary protection should not be used as a lesser status, or as a substitute for full refugee protection. As soon as it is feasible to do so, refugees should be given the opportunity to have a full and fair hearing of their individual asylum claims. No one should be returned to their country without an individual examination of their asylum claim.

Long-term solutions
The international community must seek long-term, durable solutions to this refugee crisis. Refugees cannot be left to languish for years in refugee camps in neighboring countries. They must be helped to return to the homes they were forced to leave.

Resettlement in other countries should be a possibility for those refugees who wish it. Relocation to third countries should not, however, be a substitute for international efforts to enable refugees to realize their right to return to their homes.

Return should take place only when the safety and human rights of the refugees can be fully guaranteed. Clearly, refugees will not be able to return while Serb security forces and paramilitary groups are present in their villages. The perpetrators of atrocities must be brought to justice and peace and security must be restored to Kosovo before the refugees can return. This will take an enormous international effort. NATO cannot abandon the refugees now. Neither can President Milosevic and the Serb authorities be allowed to get away with systematically cleansing Kosovo of its Albanian population.