United Nations Daily Highlights, 99-05-28

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

DAILY HIGHLIGHTS

Friday, 28 May, 1999

HEADLINES

• Secretary-General says indictment of Milosevic will complicate peace process.
• UN food agency calls for swift action to deal with severe food shortages inside Kosovo.
• Refugees report recent atrocities in Kosovo border villages
• Secretary-General reiterates concern about fighting over Kashmir.
• Number of Congolese refugees into Tanzania rises dramatically as fighting in east escalates -- UNHCR.
• Preparatory body for General Assembly special session on social development wraps up first stage of work.

In response to a question at a press conference in Lund, Sweden, where he is on an official visit, the Secretary-General said even though the Russian Federation had criticized the indictment, he did not expect it to be an "unduly complicating factor" in the UN's relations with Russian envoy Victor Chernomyrdin, who is in Belgrade today.

The Hague Tribunal has indicted the Yugoslav President and four of his senior officials for crimes against humanity.

During the press conference, Mr. Annan also expressed his concern for the situation in Kosovo, not only because of the humanitarian tragedy, but also because it had destabilized the entire region, from blockage of the Danube River to driving tourists away from the Adriatic Coast. "Yugoslavia is being destroyed, which could prompt a Serb exodus, compounding the problem. This is why we are intensifying our efforts to find an end to the conflict, " he said.

The Secretary-General concluded his official visit to Sweden on Friday, after participating in the commencement ceremony at the University of Lund, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the faculty of Law. From southern Sweden, Mr. Annan went to Copenhagen, where he was scheduled to meet with Danish Prime Minister Nyrup Rasmussen. He is expected back in New York on Saturday.

A senior WFP officer, who travelled through Kosovo this week as part of a UN humanitarian mission team, said food was so scarce that even a swift political settlement would not end the food crisis for local inhabitants.

"There are so many thousands of people with no access to food, cooking fuel or medical supplies," said Ramiro Lopes de Silva, WFP's head of logistics. He noted that less than half of Kosovo's arable land has been tilled this year and it was unclear how much would be harvested.

Even when Kosovars return home they will face a harsh future because of rampant destruction of towns and villages as well as the collapsed economy. "Never have I seen such a systematic destruction of villages -- mostly the buildings were burned but many were destroyed by gunfire," said Mr. Lopes de Silva.

WFP is seeking an agreement to bring and monitor food supplies into Kosovo as quickly as possible, an extension of an intensive emergency operation which was launched in Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Montenegro.

UNHCR said the new arrivals have spoken about horrific events in two villages in the Kacanik municipality. One refugee -- an elderly religious leader -- told UNHCR that he personally buried the mutilated corpses of three young men killed on 25 May by Serbian paramilitary in Mika, formerly a village of 800 Albanians which, he said, was now empty.

More than 1,000 refugees entered the country on Thursday although only a few came through the main control point at Blace. Most came through Tabanovce and Jazince, according to UNHCR. Refugees said Serbian forces turned back six busloads of Kosovars before they reached the Blace crossing. More than 30,000 refugees flooded across the border at Blace in the five days up until Wednesday, when the influx suddenly stopped.

In a positive development, UNHCR said authorities in Skopje have agreed to open a new 20,000 capacity refugee camp in the north-western part of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. A total of 2,234 refugees left the country on Thursday, bringing to 68,000, the number of departures under the humanitarian evacuation programme.

Meanwhile in Albania, UNHCR stepped up its drive to move refugees away from the border areas, as the country's military scheduled a training exercise. Several villagers were killed this week and others were seriously wounded by artillery rounds that fell in the border village of Krume.

In a statement read by his spokesman, the Secretary-General said he remained very concerned about the hostilities near the Line of Control near Kargil in Jammu and Kashmir.

"He is encouraged by direct contacts which have taken place between the Prime Ministers and other officials of India and Pakistan, and by their continued willingness to pursue their dialogue on a number of issues, including Kashmir," said Manoel de Almeida e Silva, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.

Since Tuesday over 4,800 refugees fleeing in boats across Lake Tanganyika, which separates the two countries, have registered in Kigoma. This comes after many weeks of around 200 arrivals per day, UNHCR said.

Refugees are telling UNHCR staff that the Mayi-Mayi, a local ethnic group battling rebel forces who control much of eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, have stepped up their attacks on towns in South Kivu and are warning civilians to leave the area. Rebels are reportedly staging a counter offensive.

The last three days have pushed the total number of Congolese arrivals to 61,855 since fighting began last August.

UNHCR staff in Kigoma are also working to reunite several Congolese families who were separated when a boat that left South Kivu on 15 May ran out of fuel and came ashore in Rumonge, Burundi.

Speaking at a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York, John Langmore of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs said the Preparatory Committee for the special session of the General Assembly on the Implementation of the Outcome of the World Summit for Social Development has tentatively agreed to a set of 14 additional measures to further the plan of action adopted in Copenhagen. The Committee met in New York from 17 to 28 May.

Mr. Langmore said the review conference, scheduled for June 2000 in Geneva, will evaluate implementation of the 10 commitments on social development agreed at the Copenhagen summit and decide on possible further action. As the basis for evaluation, a comprehensive Secretary- General's report compiled from national reports will be presented to the UN Commission for Social Development in February next year.

Some of the proposals discussed during the Preparatory Committee's session included work on social protection, employment, institutional arrangements for social integration and the role of volunteers, Mr. Langmore said.

Other initiatives included studies on the impact of globalization on social development, obstacles to development in Africa and guidelines on the responsibilities of the private sector.

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

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