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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE

• The exodus from Kosovo continued unabated throughout last night and this morning. Over 580,000 have been internally displaced or forced to flee to neighboring countries. (See attached chart).

• Since the crisis began in early 1998, the United States has committed $91 million in humanitarian assistance for the region as well as in-kind assistance, and is preparing to provide additional financial and material support (see attached charts).

• State Department Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Julia Taft is leading a comprehensive USG interagency response to the humanitarian crisis.

• USAID has a Disaster Assistance Response Team in Macedonia and is putting together another in Albania.

• The USG is working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other relief organizations to increase their capacity to respond to the crisis. UNHCR chaired an emergency meeting of Geneva-based representatives of the major donor countries March 30 to discuss assistance needs.

• State Department and USAID representatives are arriving today in Albania to assess the emergency response plans and requirements in order to meet the urgent humanitarian needs.

Serb offensives in late December caused displacements of several thousand people. These displacements continued in January, and February. Following the beginning of the Rambouillet talks in late February, there were further new displacements. The humanitarian situation continued to deteriorate due to ongoing clashes between Government security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army. The displacement of people was accompanied by the burning of villages and destruction of means of livelihood. Following the breakdown of the talks and the withdrawal of the Organization for Security and Cooperation Kosovo Verification Mission on March 20, conflict between the two sides intensified. By the time NATO airstrikes began on March 24, tens of thousands of Kosovo Albanians were already fleeing heavy fighting throughout Kosovo.

• The humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. Serb forces have dramatically increased the tempo of their attacks against ethnic Albanian citizens and destruction of their homes and workplaces throughout most of Kosovo. According to latest estimates, over 100,000 Kosovo Albanians have become refugees or displaced over the last week. 85,500 people have crossed into Albania, 20,000 into Montenegro, and at least 14,500 into Macedonia, bringing the total number of refugees and displaced to almost 600,000. During initial flows, the majority were women, children, and the elderly but UNHCR now reports it is seeing mostly families crossing. The number of internally displaced in the Kosovo countryside is believed to be in the hundreds of thousands. It is not possible to verify these numbers at this time.

• State Department Assistant Secretary for Population, Refugees, and Migration Julia Taft is leading a comprehensive USG interagency response to the humanitarian crisis. Since the crisis began in early 1998, the United States has committed $91 million in humanitarian assistance for the region and is preparing to provide additional financial and material support.

• The USG is working closely with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and other relief organizations to increase their capacity to respond to the crisis. We are also in close contact with other countries to coordinate assistance efforts.

• The international relief effort is up and running as contingency planning is being put into action. UNHCR, the lead international refugee agency, has begun emergency relief operations in addition to its present region-wide programs and is coordinating operations to provide assistance to the refugees in the countries in the region. UNHCR, at an emergency meeting with Geneva-based representatives of major donors March 30, identified priority needs as shelter, transport and medical assistance. The World Food Program has prepositioned food in Albania adequate to support up to 100,000 persons for one month. The U.S., through the Food for Peace Program, and other donors are directing further shipments to Albania and Macedonia on an urgent basis. Other international organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and non-governmental organizations are also engaged in the relief effort.

• International Organizations - $24,719,000

• United Nations Childrenâs Emergency Fund - $1,750,000 (State/PRM)

• World Health Organization - $400,000 (State/PRM)

• State/PRM: $6,550,000
• $260,000 for Albania
• $6,290,000 for the crisis in Kosovo
• AID/FFP: $21,918,000
• In Kosovo $16,330,000
• In Montenegro $2,000,000
• In Serbia/Albania/Macedonia $3,588,000
• DOD: $1.2 million for 300,000 Humanitarian Daily Rations (HDR)

As of March 30, USAID'S Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) has sent the following commodities to: