OSCE KVM helps with refugee registration

PRISTINA, 9 April 1999 - The pace of registering ethnic Albanian refugees in the Stenkovac camps to make them ready for airlifts to sanctuary countries is rapidly increasing, and is expected soon to reach 2000 persons a day.

The OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission, charged by the UNHCR with assisting them to organise the registration of refugees to be flown to sanctuary countries, set out on Tuesday April 6 with processing around 400 persons. Many of these were flown to Turkey that same evening.

On Wednesday approximately 1000 were registered and on Thursday 1460, filling planes bound for Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, and to Iceland.

The OSCE/KVM is organising the registration process to meet the criteria demanded by the UNHCR: Families are to be kept together, their transfer to a country of sanctuary must be voluntary, and they must know with certainty where they are going.

The increasing pace of registration has been achieved with the expert help of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

With the arrival of IOM staff, the OSCE/KVM is aiming to further increase the daily number of registrations. The goal is to register 2000 persons a day on a continuous basis over the next weeks. It is expected this figure will be reached within the next few days.

Besides running the registration process under the auspices of the UNHCR, the OSCE/KVM is rendering assistance to other international organisations operating in FYROM. Among them UNICEF will receive staff support and loaned vehicles.