INFLOW OF REFUGEES FROM YUGOSLAVIA TO BOSNIA REDUCED RECENTLY

SARAJEVO, April 20 (Hina) - Since the start of NATO air strikes on Yugoslavia (Serbia/Montenegro), about 20,000 people have entered Bosnia-Herzegovina from that neighbouring country. Most of them are Bosniaks (Moslems) from the Sanjak area, said a spokeswoman for the UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees), Wendy Rappeport, in Sarajevo on Tuesday. According to UNHCR figures, about 16,000 refugees from Sanjak have found shelter in Bosnia. Most of them have been accepted by their relatives, and just 781 Sanjak refugees are in collective accommodation centres. Since March 24 when the NATO began bombing Yugoslavia, only 1,000 Kosovo Albanians arrived in Bosnia. International organisations believe that difficulties in transport from Kosovo to Bosnia has not allowed a larger number of ethnic Albanians to come to Bosnia. Out of some 10,000 Albanians who entered Bosnia prior to the NATO operations, 2,341 Albanians have been settled in collective centres set up by the UNHCR in cooperation with local authorities. Estimated 2,500 people from Yugoslavia sought shelter in the Bosnian Serb entity, but this number is not still confirmed, the UNHCR added. Food for refugees in Bosnia is being provided under the World Food Programme (WFP), the International Cross and non-governmental relief agencies. Rappeport said the current food supplies are enough. She added that an influx of refugees into Bosnia had lately been reduced in comparison to previous waves of people leaving Yugoslavia for Bosnia. By conducting polls among refugees, the UNHCR has collected information that some of those people were exposed to abuse while crossing over the border. Sanjak refugees complained that policemen of the Bosnian Serb entity threatened them and often extorted money from them. A spokeswoman for the UN mission in Bosnia, Kelly Moore, said international police (IPTF) had been deployed at the border via which refugees come into Bosnia, as well as into central parts of the Serb entity. She added that the Bosnian Serb entity's interior minister, Sredoje Novic, had given guarantees that he would investigate the complaints and punish responsible policemen if allegations be proved true. (hina) jn ms