MACEDONIA: KOSOVO CRISIS: CROWDING IN REFUGEE CAMPS скачать в хорошем качестве

MACEDONIA: KOSOVO CRISIS: CROWDING IN REFUGEE CAMPS

(1 May 1999) Eng/Albanian/Nat Thousands of Kosovar refugees have arrived at the Macedonian camp of Cegrane, which officially opened on Friday. Most had to spend the night sleeping in the open as aid workers worked through until dawn setting up tents and sanitary facilities. The camp, originally built to take 5-thousand refugees in its first phase, already houses 14 -thousand refugees. Eight-thousand ethnic Albanians from Kosovo flowed into Macedonia on Friday. More were expected to make their way on Saturday to camps that are already filled to capacity. Four-thousand- 500 of those arriving on Friday had to spend the night in an open field next to Cegrane refugee camp. The new camp was already filled beyond its capacity before being completed. As soldiers worked to finish the camp, whole families bedded down for the night , wrapped only in blankets, sleeping bags and plastic sheeting. As they struggled tried to find a place to sleep, another 28 buses continue to arrive loaded with refugees. One woman with 4 young children said that she was forced to leave her baby in their burning house and flee. She said Serb soldiers set fire to her home and when she ran back to collect her baby, they fired shots at her. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) "I have 4 children. One of them I had to leave in Kosovo. The Serbs burnt my child in its cradle. He was 1 year old and they burnt him. These other children, somehow I got them away, but he (the baby) is left there. I went back to take my child but Serbs started to shoot and I was afraid to go there and collect him. So my baby is left in the cradle and that's all." SUPER CAPTION: Vox Pop, Ethnic Albanian refugee Aid workers say they are racing against time to complete the camp to accommodate new waves of refugees expected over the weekend. For now they can only provide the most basic amenities. SOUNDBITE: (English) "We have not got enough tents up to house them- so they are outside, we are just giving them food and blankets and plastic to sleep on at the moment." SUPER CAPTION: Mark Broking, Care worker Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians have fled Kosovo into neighbouring Albania and Macedonia following the Serb onslaught and the subsequent NATO air strikes against Yugoslavia. The 165-thousand ethnic Albanians who have streamed into Macedonia have swelled the country's 1-point- 9 million (m) population by almost ten percent. The refugee crisis has debilitated an already economically impoverished country. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...