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Emergency Aid for Refugees from Kosova |
This project deals with emergency aid to refugees from Kosova - unfortunately it could just as well have dealt with refugees from other areas of the Balkan, but during the Easter days of 1999 it was especially the Kosova-Albanians who were fleeing in thousands. The Balkans have for centuries been marked by immigrations, wars of conquest and foreign dominance. It has been the buffer zone between superpower interests of the East and West, and has been populated by many ethnically different groups with each their language, religion, culture and traditions. The Balkan's colorful and dramatic history will not be depicted here. To give you an impression of the Balkan problematic, we will shortly tell you a bit about the Kosova province, which is specially in focus in this project. Kosova lies in Balkan, inside Yugoslavia, with borders to Albania, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia. The original Federation of the People's Republic of Yugoslavia from 1945 was dissolved in 1990, and today Yugoslavia consists of only the republics of Serbia and Montenegro. Kosova and Vojvodina are autonomous provinces inside Serbia, but Kosova's government and parliament are not recognized by Serbia, and the province has since June 1999 been led by international forces. 90% of the population are of ethnic Albanian origin, Albanian is the official language, and the religion is mainly Islam. The capital is Prishtina. The province is poor and underdeveloped, the infant mortality rate is among the highest in Europe - and 400,000 Kosova Albanians have fled or emigrated because of the conflict in the area. The Kosova-Albanians are descendants of the Illyrians, who populated the Balkans a long time before the invasion of the Slavs in the 6th century, and that of the Osmanlis in the 14th century. They have since 1880 demanded an autonomous state and have often been at war. In 1918 Serbia conquers Kosova. During the second world war Kosova participates in the war against the German occupational power, and the Albanian people are in 1943 promised independence, but with the establishment of the People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1945, they are still only given the status of an autonomous area within the republic of Serbia. From then on the conditions are characterized by waves of terror and mass demonstrations up to 1989 with demands for changing the status of the country to a republic. In February the Yugoslavian presidential rule declares a state of emergency in Kosova, a curfew is imposed and the school children are separated according to nationality. In February 1990 the Yugoslavian federal army is sent into Kosova, and Serbia dissolves the parliament and the government, occupies radio and TV stations, closes newspapers and schools, and mass dismisses Albanians from governmental institutions. The following year the payments to teachers stop and the university is closed. After the death of Tito in 1980 there was a period with growing demands for greater independence for the different republics, and during the 90's four of them, Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina had declared their independence. But the Serbs were not part of this movement; many of them lived as a matter of fact in these other republics and therefore wished to maintain the federation instead of becoming a minority in a number of independent areas. In 1991 Kosova also declares itself independent; but Serbia escalates the oppression during the following years. In March 1999 NATO starts bombardments of Yugoslavia because of Serbia's intensified brutal oppression in Kosova, where the Serbs had driven several hundred thousands on the run into Albania. The status of Kosova with regard to international law is still unclear. UN has not taken a stand to the future of the country, and NATO's troops are still in the country. The Situation in April 1999 About Emergency Aid People hit by catastrophes have a right to emergency relief. In modern times this is also given in many more cases than earlier: transport has become simpler, there is access to international funds, and there is a preparedness both with regard to personnel and material: and the world becomes aware of the situation much faster and wants to help - if the television is present with journalists who do not just go for "good pictures", but honor ethics and express humanity, compassion and solidary humanism. So on this occasion thousands of people were fleeing from Kosova. The teacher council at 'Det Nødvendige Seminarium' (DNS) [The Necessary Teacher Training College] decided that they wanted to help. They could have chosen to raise the funds and let the Red Cross, the 'Folkekirkens Nødhjælp' [ a Danish church relief organization], Save the Children or any one of the many other international organizations carry out the emergency aid. But the teacher council decided to take it on themselves, because then the project would also be a manifestation for the people participating, and for the people hearing about it: the conflicts are not solved by an international community with bombs; they are solved by negotiations; they are solved by human and practical efforts in the name of solidary humanism; they are solved by development aid; they are solved with emergency aid. About the Applicant Through the education the students gain great experience with and become engaged in "doing good", so when the teacher council during the Easter decided to apply to the Foundation for means for emergency aid in Kosova, the decision was backed up by the students at the college. Everybody at DNS followed closely how the action was progressing during the month's time it ran, and were pleased with its result. The Application and the Quick Implementation The Report to the Foundation about what went on It was discussed where the clothes should be distributed, and Macedonia was chosen, because it is close to Greece, where it would be possible to obtain used clothes. At the same time it would be easy to see, both physically and economically, how to get the packed clothes transported from Greece to Macedonia. DNS knew that the recently started HUMANA People to People in Athens had collected clothes, which had not yet been packed and sent out. The teacher council had already investigated where used clothes could be obtained and at what price. Used clothes, collected in for example Holland, Belgium or Switzerland, were sold at a price of 45-50 US cents/kilo, while the clothes collected in southern Europe are sold at a price of 30-35 cents/kilo. It was clothes of the latter quality, which were for sale in Athens. The advantages of using Athens as a base for this action were therefore several:
Steen Conradsen, teacher at DNS, hurried to Athens via Billund and straight away bought 100 tons of used clothes from HUMANA People to People in Greece. He found a school, where the school direction readily allowed him to use the gymnasium for the clothes sorting, and put an advert in the local radio which brought 15 volunteers for sorting and packing. Pensioners and high school students came, and some of the students participated with their teachers. Development Aid from People to People in Sweden heard about the action and sent a load of blankets, which could be packed together with the emergency packages, and two of their friends flew to Athens to help with the sorting and packing. Likewise four students came from the Traveling Folk High School in Norway, who had also heard about the action. This meant that there was a good solid group to do the sorting and packing together with the Greek volunteers, who participated in their spare time. A sorting line was set up on long tables, where the clothes could be sorted and packed with the following in each package: a warm jacket, two sweaters, two pairs of trousers or skirts, two shirts or blouses, underwear and socks. The clothes were packed according to sizes: two men's sizes, two ladies' sizes, two children sizes and one baby size. Not all the packages were given blankets and shoes, but many were. The action also received donations from shop keepers in Athens: Wrapping plastic, tape, underwear and shoes, and much more. The packs were carefully wrapped with plastic and had a label with the contents - the recipient got a gift, not a messy pile of clothes. After a week the first packs were ready for transport. Steen arranged for a Greek truck with a driver, and the volunteers packed the first truck with 2,000 packages of clothes. There was still sufficient amounts of clothes in stock for at least 10,000 packages of clothes, so the volunteers continued packing, while the first load was driven north. Steen contacts the recipients for the first load of clothes We pass the border to Macedonia without big efforts, and continue our journey to Skopje, where we encounter the first trouble. Our logo with the windmill of Tvind and the name of HUMANA saves us - and we gather a small convoy of trucks with relief aid, who come along under the protecting umbrella of the logo. They are welcome to be associated with us. Why the police patrol found that this specific logo was the most trustworthy, I do not know. But at each and everyone of the police posts before Skopje, it is our windmill logo which makes the guard direct us forward. The smiles from the two high school students, also with us in the truck, also help. In Skopje we get problems with the customs. We are informed that the truck will be held in a waiting area - and that we will have to wait and see.... I talk to lots of people, and pull whatever strings I can find - and finally we get the truck out of the waiting area. To meet this kind of bureaucracy in Skopje is not surprising. The town is a mess of NATO troops, journalists and people from all kinds of aid organizations. Just outside the town are big refugee camps - the one closest to Skopje, with 60,000 people, is controlled by NATO. It is difficult to get in. We now have to unload the truck because the driver has to drive it back to Athens. We have made an agreement with the organization 'Doctors of the World', who have storage space in Skopje. Now I have to organize local transport to get the clothes to the people who need it. There are plenty of vehicles in Skopje - also loads of aid organizations. It becomes evident that there are many difficulties and few solutions.... Wonder who could help me? I end up getting in contact with a small Muslim organization, which was created during the last Bosnian conflict. They prove to be extremely efficient: In just a few hours a truck has been organized and seven people to load it. We drive out of Skopje on a little mountain road to a refugee camp with 1,500 refugees. They live in tents without any form of sanitary installations and have only the clothes they wear. Many of those I speak with know German. They explain to me that until they had to leave their homes they ran enterprises and shops. They were used to doing well. Now they had been deprived of their identity, their existence. They used to be people with an address, with a family, with a circle of friends, with a place in the town community, with a profession - with a history. Now they are refugees, housed in tents, deprived of their integrity. Families have been torn apart; the bus left - maybe the son, daughter or grandmother didn't make it. They ask for news of their family members.... They are moved when they understand that people in Denmark together with people from Greece have packed clothes for them. They have a great need for the clothes - but the significance of the solidarity is greater still... The clothes are distributed, organized by the Norwegian camp leader. Every family sends a representative. Everybody gets something. Everybody waits calmly for their package. The clothes which do not fit are swapped with someone else. The night starts falling. The temperature is freezing." The Next Deliveries This is how the packages were distributed:
The contact with the first refugee camp Radusha was made through the Muslim organization helping with the transport. The camp was led by a Norwegian organization, and there was an excellent cooperation with both parties. The contact with the area around Tetovo came about in another way. Already before the departure from Denmark Steen had been in contact with the Macedonian embassy in Denmark, where both the ambassador and the staff had been very forthcoming and helpful. Steen now contacted the embassy again and asked if they had any opinion of where it would be good to distribute the remaining 12,000 packages of clothes. The embassy wrote back that in the area around the village Dzepciste were both smaller camps and also many privately housed refugees. In addition they gave the name of the mayor, and assured on his behalf that Steen and his Greek helpers could get accommodations and be assisted with the distribution in the village. In connection with the distribution in this area, Steen came in contact with the camp leadership of the two camps, where the two last distributions took place. The same way Steen tells about the first distribution, he could have continued about the next ones: about the difficulties in organizing the distribution, about the helpfulness from the local village leaderships, about the good cooperation with the camp leaderships - and most of all the happiness of the people receiving the packages. The Economy of the Project The whole action cost 263,500 Dkr, all inclusive, corresponding to about 19 Dkr for each package, and the remaining funds have been returned to the Foundation. Reflections The emergency relief at that time could naturally not have prevented new disasters from happening, but it has possibly given each recipient a small push to better withstand the difficulties and maybe look a little brighter on the future. It is worth stressing that the grant from the Foundation came very promptly and unbureaucratically. When emergency relief is needed, time is an important factor. Quick aid is double aid: clothes and blankets reduce the need for later medicine and hospital, and food boosts the stamina. The quick effort comforts and encourages people in need, so they might get more strength to become the driving force in getting out of the situation. And the people participating and helping - here volunteer clothes packers, aid organizations, business people, school children, teacher students, and many others - become richer in experience and get training in fine-tuning their ethical compass in a big and complicated world. |
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