The ICRC has just completed a distribution of emergency relief for the civilians most severely affected by the ongoing tension in southern Serbia. Earlier assessments in Serbian and Albanian villages inside and outside the ground safety zone showed that some families were having trouble reaching places where food and other items, especially those needed for their children, were available. […] Relief distribution in the Presevo valley
ICRC teams in southern Serbia have stepped up their efforts to warn the population of the threat posed by mines and unexploded ordnance, the dangerous legacy of recent violence which has already claimed the lives of five people in the area and injured several more.

ICRC responds to crisis in southern Serbia
On Saturday 12 May fighting broke out between Yugoslav security forces and ethnic Albanian armed groups who had taken control of the village of Oraovica, outside the ground safety zone (GSZ). On Tuesday the ICRC evacuated six elderly people from Oraovica to Presevo and on Wednesday it evacuated one pregnant women, one mentally handicapped person and three elderly people from Gornja Susaja, a village inside the GSZ. […]

Daniela Cavini