MCIC Situation report Macedonia no. 5/2001

09 July - 15 July 2001

Skopje, 16th of July 2001


HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

Displaced persons

The number of internally displaced persons (IDP) increases. According to the Macedonian Red Cross, 38,300 IDPs are registered in Macedonia, out of which 1,297 are settled in the collective centres (Table 1).

Refugees return from Kosovo to Macedonia. The number of refugees returning from Kosovo increases. 11.800 refugees (ethnic Albanians) returned till now. UNHCR plans organized return for the refugees without documents. The lists will be verified by the authorized ministry and after that the refugees can return in Macedonia.

The inhabitants of Aracinovo still cannot return to their homes. According to the displaced ethnic Macedonians only one member of each family can visit their home. According to the ethnic Albanians, the police allow only ethnic Macedonians in the village, while they have to ask in written the Coordinative Body for crisis management to be permitted.

Human life impact

Military action areas. Since the beginning of the conflicts between the extremists and the Macedonian Security Forces, the villages in the area of Skopje, Kumanovo and Tetovo were involved in military actions.

In the region of Skopje and Skopje Crna Gora, the villages of Tanusevci, Brest, Gosince, Malina mala, Lukare, Aracinovo, Mojance, Grusino, Orlanci, Brnjarci and Radusa have been involved in military actions.

In the region of Tetovo, the villages of Selce, Lavce, Vejce, Brodec, Bozovce, Vesala, Gajre, Lisec, Sipkovica, Germo, Drenovec, Brezno, Jelosnik, Varvara, Otunje, Setoele and Jedoarce.
In the region of Kumanovo, the villages of Lojane, Vaksince, Orizare, Slupcane, Otlja, Lipkovo, Lopate, Opaje, Matejce, Ropajce, Nikustak, Vistica, Izvor and Umin Dol.

The situation in Lipkovo. At the present in the Municipality of Lipkovo, controlled by the extremists, there are around 14,000 inhabitants. Only in the village of Lipkovo there are around 7,000 persons. This number is very variable because of the movement of the inhabitants from the villages around Lipkovo (Orizare, Slupcane, Vaksince, Otlja and Matejce). They rely upon the humanitarian aid provided by the local NGOs. In the village of Lipkovo there is no water supply system. The village is supplied with water from the local wells and there is also electric power. The village is not affected by the military actions (Table 2).

Damages caused

At present, there are no official reports of the Coordinative Body at the Macedonian Government about the damage evaluation from the conflicts in Aracinovo.

 

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Food

Distribution for IDPs. The International Red Cross Committee provided humanitarian aid consisted of 950 parcels of food and hygiene supplies for the internally displaced persons (IDPs) settled in the collective centres of Cicino Selo, Zdravko Cvetkovski, Ranka Milanovic, Senic, Partenie Zografski, Dimitar Vlahov and Stiv Naumov. ICRC provides parcels with basic food supplies only for the first two months of the IDPs' registration. After this period, the provision of aid should be overtaken by some other organization. The Italian organization Intersos, financed by ECHO might overtake the provision of aid for 18,000 IDPs.

The convoy for Sipkovica waits for a permission. The humanitarian aid convoy for the villages of the Municipality of Sipkovica, organized by the ICRC and the humanitarian organizations "El Hilal" and "Klasje na dobrinata" still have not attained approval from the Ministry of Internal Affairs to enter in this area. There are around 5,000 inhabitants in these villages seeking humanitarian aid because of the two months limited access.

Aid convoy in Municipality of Lipkovo. On 12th of July, humanitarian aid convoy for the 14,000 inhabitants (ethnic Albanians) entered in the Municipality of Lipkovo. The convoy was organized by the humanitarian organizations Natyra (supported by ACT/MCIC), Jeta, Mother Theresa, Klasje na dobrinata, Merhamet, League of Albanian Women, and Flora. The aid consisted of 18 trucks with 40 tons of food, which is enough for 2-3-week needs. The aid will be distributed to the inhabitants of the villages of Orizare, Lipkovo, Otlja, Slupcane, Vaksince etc.

Aid for the displaced ethnic Macedonians. Through intermediation of the Macedonian Orthodox Church, on 12th of July in Tetovo from Germany, arrived 600 parcels of humanitarian aid for the inhabitants (ethnic Macedonians) from the villages of Setole, Otunje, Jedoarce, Varvara, Brezno and Jelosnik. These 2,500 persons were forced out to leave their homes by the extremists. Several Macedonian Church Municipalities, associations and individuals organized the humanitarian action.

Health

The Macedonian Government's Decision for free medicines for IDP's still not implemented.

Shelters

There are no new collective centres for IDP's.

The Government has decided to finance IDP's in the collective centres of 400 MKD for each IDP daily (5,64 USD). It is not certain yet, whether this amount would cover the costs (and even whether paid at all) and whether would there be needs for support of other agencies.

Water supply and sanitation

MCIC continues its activities for providing an alternative water source for the Medical Centre in Kumanovo. After the failure of the first sample, the second one showed that the source is consumable.

Schools and education

There are no activities in this sector so far.

Humanitarian demining

There are no such activities in this period.

Protection and human rights

On MCIC initiative, an "Informative and Legal Support for the Internally Displaced Persons" brochure is being prepared. MCIC requested information from the ICRC for that purpose.

Psychological aid

There are no such activities in this period.

Post crisis rehabilitation

The Sanitary Service in the Municipality of Aracinovo collected around 120 corpses of dead livestock. The animals are being buried in special burrows. There is also a possible danger of diseases in the crisis areas where the animals' corpses have not been removed.

 

HUMANITARIAN ORGANIZATION

Financing

New financial package. The EU works on an additional financial package of 50 million Euros for Macedonia for the support of the political agreement expected to be reached soon. These 50 million Euros are added on already promised 42 million Euros for this year.

ECHO funds distributed. The ECHO budget of 3.15 million Euros has been distributed. Intersos is one of the beneficiaries and will provide basic food parcels for 18,000 IDPs in the next six months.

Coordination

On President Trajkovski's initiative, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy with logistic support of MCIC, on 11th of July, organized coordinative meeting for establishing National Humanitarian Coordinative Body. Representatives from the President's Cabinet, the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, international governmental organizations, international nongovernmental, domestic governmental and domestic nongovernmental organizations, and the Red Cross, were present of the meeting. It was agreed to reduce the number of participants in the Coordinative Body in order to achieve greater efficiency, and to obtain more information from the Government's Coordinative Body for Crisis Management. It was also agreed that the National Humanitarian Coordination should be central body coordinating the activities of all organizations and institutions. The next meeting will be on 19th of July 2001.

Back to News