Published: 19 March 2004
Red Cross staff and volunteers were immediately mobilized since violent clashes began between ethnic Albanians and Serbs in the Kosovo since 17 March, leaving more than 30 people dead and hundreds injured.
In Serbia, the Red Cross is providing meals to some 300 people near the administrative border. All Red Cross branches in the border area have been put on alert in case of population movements, especially in the municipalities of Bujanovac, Kursumlija, Raska and Novi Pazar.
Should the need arise, soup kitchens will be opened to internally displaced people and first aid and emergency response teams will be deployed. National donations of food and other items are currently being received at Red Cross branches and several truckloads of relief goods have been sent from Belgrade to the border area.
Three tented camps are ready to be set up along the border area, each of which will be able to accommodate 200 people.
In Kosovo, the Red Cross provided first aid to the injured during demonstrations in Mitrovica and transported the most serious cases to hospital. First aid volunteers are on stand-by in Pristina to support hospital staff should the situation escalate. Blood donation drives have also begun and hundreds of people have responded. Several Red Cross branches are also providing shelter to some 200 displaced people who fled Mitrovica.
The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has released 120,000 Swiss francs from its Disaster Response Emergency Fund to support preparedness and relief operations in Serbia and in Kosovo. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has also provided food and non-food items to the Red Cross in Serbia. In Kosovo the ICRC is helping with tracing of relatives for displaced people currently sheltered in camps managed by the NATO peace-keeping forces (KFOR).
The Federation and the ICRC are closely monitoring the situation and will conduct a needs assessment over the coming days.