The aid organisation Oxfam yesterday joined the mounting chorus of criticism about the lack of co-ordination and leadership by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in dealing with the aid crisis in Albania and Macedonia.
In a strongly worded briefing, Oxfam said conditions for the refugees, particularly in Macedonia, were "far worse than they should be with the resources available". The charity said that unless the international community produced a clear, centralised strategy, many would suffer unnecessarily in dirty, overcrowded camps with the ever-present threat of disease.
Oxfam's intervention coincided with an announcement by Britain's Local Government Association (LGA) of plans to receive a total of 15,000 refugees in Britain by the end of June.
At present there are about 433,000 refugees from Kosovo in Albania and 230,000 in Macedonia, about one third in camps and the rest billeted with the local population. Since the brief closure of the border with Kosovo on May 5th, the flow of refugees into Macedonia is likely to increase again, according to Oxfam. But the expected solution of relocating more in Albania would make it difficult "to ensure any protection of refugee rights, welfare or the integrity of family units".
Mr Charles Walker, Oxfam's spokesman, said: "We think that for the aid effort to be as effective as it could be, the UNHCR needs to be much more central. Other organisations, including aid agencies, donor governments and NGOs must respect that claim."
In addition, Oxfam recommended that NATO make a greater effort, under UNHCR direction, to provide logistical support, labour and transport. In order to respect the legitimate concerns of the over-stretched governments, a package of economic assistance should be urgently provided to both host countries. In Albania alone there are now 49 tented camps and 240 collection centres.
A UNHCR spokeswoman, Ms Lyndall Sachs, accepted that the first few weeks of the operation were chaotic. "But more recently it has gone ahead in leaps and bounds." Ms Sachs said the problems in Macedonia were a result of the government not allowing the UNHCR to build more camps.
Serb prisoners of war handed to Yugoslavia 400 words By Audrey Gillan in London
Two Serb prisoners of war were handed back to Yugoslavia yesterday at the Horgos border crossing with Hungary.
The privates, Boban Milen Kovic and Sesko Tairovic - who were captured separately by the Kosovo Liberation Army last month - had assured Red Cross officials they wanted to go home. Last night, United States officials denied any link between the release of the Serb soldiers and the freeing of three US soldiers captured on the border between Kosovo and Macedonia, saying the move was part of normal war proceedings.
The Serb soldiers were held at a US base at Mannheim, and allowed regular visits from the Red Cross. The US ambassador, Mr Peter Tufo, said: "The Serb POWs were well cared for, were provided with medical care, had the opportunity to send and receive mail and had their habits, customs and religious practices respected." He added: "The American POWs were physically mistreated at the time of their capture and during interrogation."
Meanwhile, Mr Tony Blair visited a camp run by the Turkish Red Crescent in Elbasan, about 67km from Tirana.
The British Prime Minister, pursing his lips and shaking his head as though he could not bear to hear it, sat cross-legged on the floor of a tent as an elderly woman refugee from Kosovo described seeing a Serb paramilitary gunman shoot a man dead in front of her.
The man's twin daughters, both in their teens, had just been dragged away by other Serbs, Ms Shymrete Mazreka told Mr Blair during his brief visit to the camp.
Ms Mazreka's husband, Miftar (72), was lying weakly on a mattress when Mr Blair came into the tent, took off his shoes, and perched beside him. The man described how he had been severely injured when the paramilitaries came into the village in western Kosovo where the couple were sheltering.
The Elbasan camp houses around 4,000 refugees, and in a 30-minute stop Mr Blair had time to listen to only a few of their stories. But it was enough for him to be moved.
After walking down two lines of neatly placed white tents, he strode to the microphones with the Albanian Prime Minister, Mr Pandeli Majko, beside him.
"These people have been driven from their homes and their homeland," he declared. "Our mission is very simple and very clear. It is to make sure that they return and are able to live in peace and security as should be the right of any civilised human being."