United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-05-24

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From: The United Nations Home Page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Monday, 24 May, 1999

Latest Developments

HEADLINES

• Exodus from Kosovo resumes with full force with thousands streaming into neighbouring countries.
• Secretary-General unveils plans for UN mission in East Timor.
• UN agricultural agency warns of risks posed by obsolete pesticides.

More than 18,000 refugees crossed into the two countries in the three-day period from Friday through Sunday and thousands more streamed across the borders on Monday.

Approximately 7,700 refugees arrived on Saturday in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and another 7,500 on Sunday. UNHCR reported more than 15 bus loads of refugees arrived early Monday and a train with at least 15 carriages reached the border at Blace. According to UNHCR, "a wall" of refugees was walking towards the border from the railhead and one arrival said the line stretched back one kilometre into Kosovo. Many of the refugees who were elderly and in "very poor condition" required immediate medical attention, said UNHCR.

In Albania more than 1,200 Kosovars, mostly women and children, arrived on Monday. According to UNHCR, a group of about 100 men told a "consistent, terrifying story" of being imprisoned inside Kosovo. The men claimed to have been part of a large group from the Kosovska Mitrovica area held since mid-April in a prison at Smrekovnica until their unexpected release last Saturday. The new arrivals said there were 2,000 to 3,000 men in the prison, but around 50 were at one point kept to a police station and then taken to the front line to be used as human shields.

The men said for the first 50 hours of captivity they received no food and afterwards were given mostly just bread and water, and described daily interrogations, beatings and torture, said UNHCR. They said that early on Saturday their names were read out and they feared they were to be shot. Instead, they were taken to the border area by bus and ordered to walk across.

Meanwhile, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said it feared that Albanian prisoners inside Kosovo may be suffering from severe malnutrition. WFP says the men reportedly were eating only 200 grams or a quarter loaf of bread per day and looked quite weak.

In a report to the Security Council seeking approval for the establishment of the United Nations Mission in East Timor (UNAMET), the Secretary-General proposes a UN presence of nearly 5,000 personnel -- including up to 280 civilian police -- in accordance with the terms of the two Supplementary Agreements signed 5 May by the United Nations and the Governments of Indonesia and Portugal on the modalities for the popular consultation as well as the necessary security arrangements.

The report also confirms the appointment of Ian Martin as the Secretary- General's Special Representative for the East Timor Popular Consultation and as Head of UNAMET. Ambassador Jamsheed Marker will remain the Secretary- General's Personal Representative for East Timor.

In addition to detailing the Mission's political and electoral components, the report describes plans to register the approximately 400,000 people eligible to vote in the 8 August 1999 consultation. The registration process will take place over a 20- day period and involve 200 registration centres scattered throughout the far-flung territory.

The Secretary-General notes that despite repeated assurances from the Indonesian Government that it would take steps to ensure safety and curtail illegal activities in East Timor, he was deeply concerned to learn from a UN assessment team that because of continued political violence by armed militias in the territory the situation remains extremely "tense and volatile."

The Secretary-General says that given the important role of the Indonesian armed forces in East Timor, he is examining the possibility of assigning military liaison officers to assist UNAMET in implementing the security aspects of the Agreements.

The two tripartite accords supplement the Basic Agreement between Indonesia and Portugal, which requests the Secretary- General to put for consideration by the East Timorese people through direct ballot a proposed constitutional framework providing for a special autonomy for East Timor within the unitary Republic of Indonesia. Should the autonomy proposal be accepted, East Timor would be removed from the UN list of Non-Self- Governing Territories; if, however, the proposal is rejected, the United Nations would initiate moves towards East Timor's independence.

In a statement issued at the start of a two-day donors meeting in Rome, FAO called upon governments and industry to increase their efforts and financial support to solve this environmental problem.

It is estimated that there are several hundred thousand tonnes of obsolete pesticide stocks worldwide, with more than 100,000 tonnes in developing countries. FAO estimates the amount of pesticide left-overs in Africa at 20, 000 tonnes.

The lethal legacy of obsolete pesticides stocks continues to threaten human health and the environment, FAO said. "In many African countries, where FAO is involved in the disposal of hazardous pesticide stocks, metal drums filled with pesticides are leaking and corroding," said FAO expert Alemayehu Wodageneh.

The UN agency is concerned by the slow pace of the disposal of obsolete stocks and the continuing shortage of funds needed for the effort. Since 1994 around 3,000 tonnes were disposed of in 14 African and 2 Near East countries and about $24 million spent on pesticide removal, according to FAO. To clean all obsolete pesticide spots in Africa would cost between $80- 100 million.

Up till now the agro-chemical industry contributions were very limited, FAO said, urging the companies to renew their commitment and to participate more in future disposal initiatives. "The chemical industry is far from fulfilling its commitments to pay one US dollar per litre/kg for the removal of obsolete pesticide stocks in Africa and the Near East," Mr. Wodageneh noted.

FAO warned that the accumulation of hazardous pesticides in the environment will continue unabated as the worldwide annual sales of pesticides are still increasing substantially, especially in developing countries. FAO called upon its members to apply environmentally friendly Integrated Pest Management methods and to drastically reduce the use of pesticides, where this is possible.

From the United Nations home page at <http://www.un.org> - email: unnews@un.org

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