Some 900 refugees return to FYR of Macedonia from Kosovo: UNHCR

As NATO started its arms collection programme in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, around 900 refugees went back to the country from Kosovo yesterday in the largest return in recent days, according to the United Nations refugee agency.

Millicent Mutuli, a spokeswoman for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) told reporters in Geneva today that nearly 30,000 refugees have now returned from Kosovo, including some 5,600 since the signing of a peace agreement on 13 August. "Most have gone back to urban centres, indicating a lack of confidence in the security situation in their home villages where the situation remains unstable," she said.

"UNHCR is concerned about returns to insecure areas," Ms. Mutuli said, "and is worried that NATO's temporary presence may be giving a false sense of security." In particular, the required pullback of ethnic Albanian rebels and Macedonian security forces to permit arms collection from the rebels created a security vacuum which could endanger the civilian population, particularly the returning refugees and displaced people.

According to UNHCR, 29,595 refugees had returned to the FYR of Macedonia as of Sunday, mainly to Skopje and other urban centres, while over 51,000 remain in Kosovo.