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MCIC
Situation report Macedonia no. 3/2001 |
24 June - 3 July 2001
Skopje, 4th of July 2001
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
Displaced persons
The number of displaced persons
increases. Since the beginning of the crisis in Macedonia, more
than 110.000 displaced persons are being registered. According to the
UNHCR information, 75.000 refugees from Macedonia are being registered
in Kosovo until 28th of June, out of which 64.406 after 3rd of May 2001.
In Macedonia, according to the Macedonian Red Cross,
the number of internally displaced persons (IDP) totals at 34.944, and
926 of them are settled in the collective centres.
Human life impact
Water supply renewed in Kumanovo.
With the extremists' permission, on the 17th of June, the Lake Lipkovo
valves were opened. After filtration of the water supply system in Kumanovo,
its 100,000 inhabitants obtained water on the 25th of June 2001. There
is still a water shortage in Kumanovo of approximately 100 litres per
second.
The situation with water supply
of Tetovo remains the same. The reason for water reduces in Tetovo
is the electricity shortage in Popova Sapka that caused problems with
the four small hydropower plants and the pipeline. At present, the citizens
of Tetovo have 200 litres per second available water, which covers only
their minimum needs. Water restrictions have been made in order to provide
water for the people in the higher parts of the city.
Damage caused
After the entrance of the Macedonian Security Forces
in Aracinovo, there is still no evaluation made of the damage caused from
the 20-day conflicts. The first impressions are that between 50-60% of
the houses are completely or partially destroyed, and probably this is
true for the livestock as well.
HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Food
Distribution for IDP.
The only organized distributions of food for the displaced persons, so
far, are the ones of the Macedonian Red Cross in cooperation with the
International Red Cross Committee, and MCIC. The supplies are distributed
to the collective centres (MCIC provided initial aid in food and hygiene
supplies for covering 20-25-day needs) and to all registered internally
displaced persons (MRC/ICRC with standard packs of basic food and hygiene
products).
Convoy in Lipkovo. The
humanitarian organization El Hilal, on the 25 of June 2001, organized
the second convoy for Lipkovo, an area with limited access (in the war
conflict zone), with 15,000 civil population. The aid, consist of food
(flour, sugar, oil) and hygiene supplies, was transported by five trucks.
Contributions of the citizens.
Apart from this, many citizens are self-organizing themselves in the collection
of food, cloth and other necessary supplies. The food is usually delivered
to the religious institutions or municipalities, wherefrom it is distributed
on to the collective centres.
The MCIC considers the possibilities of a wider response to the food needs
of the internally displaced persons.
Health
Free health care. By a
decision of the Government, all internally displaced persons (IDP) have
the right of a free health care anywhere in Macedonia. All registered
IDPs, by using a registration card issued by the Macedonian Red Cross
can use this right.
Shelters
A new collective centre.
Apart from the five, so called, collective centres for the internally
displaced persons in Skopje, the student lodging buildings "Zdravko
Cvetkovski", "Tome Stefanovski - Senic", "Stiv Naumov",
the institutions "Dimitar Vlahov" and "Ranka Milanovic",
there is one more opened in Cicino village with a capacity of 140 persons,
settled mostly from the village Radusa. Besides MCIC and MRC/ICRC, the
Ministry of labour and social policy provided means for financing part
of the centres' expenses.
Preparations for new centres.
Three more collective centres are being prepared in Kumanovo, in hotel
Crystal (80 persons), hotel Cuba (120 persons) and the student home in
Dolno Konjare (70 persons).
Water supply and sanitation
The MCIC water supply activities
are on the way. This will result in securing urgent water supply
of the Medical Centre in Kumanovo. The MCIC donation is more than 2 million
denars. MCIC considers the possibility of additional activities in the
urgent water supply sector.
Schools and education
There are no activities in this sector so far.
Humanitarian demining
The Macedonian security forces after entering
Aracinovo took land-mine removal activities.
Protection and human rights
MCIC continues initiating the dialogue between the churches
and religious communities in Macedonia. After the meeting in Geneva with
the World Council of Churches (WCC), the working group, made of representatives
of the churches and religious communities, held a meeting in MCIC, where
the impressions of the WCC talks were discussed and a new meeting with
a more concrete conclusions for the future activities was appointed.
MCIC considers the possibility of responding to the
information needs of the internally displaced persons (info line for humanitarian
issues, web site, paid advertisements in the media), as well as for peace
building and conflict resolution measures, and preparedness for emergency
operations.
Psychological aid
There are no activities in this sector so far.
HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION
Financing
ECHO opened a new programme line.
The European Commission approved 3.15 million euros for the provision
of food, health rehabilitation, water supply and sanitation in Macedonia.
The European Commission Humanitarian Office - ECHO will be the responsible
organization for the realization of the new programme (see also: www.europe.eu.int/comm/echo/whatsnew/whatsnew_1.htm)
ACT appeal for the Macedonian
crisis. MCIC during the last week prepared an application to ACT
for humanitarian response to the Macedonian crisis. The appeal is expected
(at the present it refers only for Macedonia) to be announced till the
end of this week.
SDC - cash for shelter.
The Swiss Disaster committee (SDC) approved 1.5 million German marks for
aid for the families hosting internally displaced persons from the conflict
areas.
Coordination
NGO coordination
MCIC, the Macedonian Red Cross
(MRC) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) held a coordinative
meeting on the 2nd of July 2001, where the following was agreed:
- MRC and ICRC to provide food and basic hygiene supplies
for the internally displaced persons in the collective centres, and
MCIC to provide complementary food and hygiene supplies for the buildings
and kitchens. These three organizations will provide initial aid for
the new collective centres.
- MRC to provide basic food packs for almost all registered
internally displaced persons. The SDC will provide aid for the host
families, and MCIC will focus on providing aid for the internally displaced
persons that are not included in the first and second distribution.
- MCIC will also provide humanitarian aid for
the civil population in the areas with limited access.
Government coordination. The
Government formed a Coordinative body for crisis management, directed
by the vice-president of the Government, Mr. Ilija Filipovski and consisted
of the Ministers of Internal Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defence, Justice
and Finance, as well as representative of the President's Cabinet and
the Directorate for Public Security.
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