UNHCR ON REFUGEES WHO ARE TO LEAVE RESORT CENTRE "PINETA"

ZAGREB, July 14 (Hina) - The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed today regrets at the way of resolving the question of the accommodation of refugees, now sheltered in the resort centre "Pineta" (near the town of Novigrad, on the Croatian peninsula of Istria). "Although the UNHCR feels regrets because of the fact that the refugees should be relocated, it takes into consideration the fact that about 1030 refugees, now living in "Pineta", should be accommodated in other places in accordance with an agreement between Croatia and Slovenia," a spokeswoman for the Zagreb office of the UNHCR, Alemka Lisinski, said on Thursday. The refugees accommodated in "Pineta", most of whom are Croats from the towns of Kakanj and Vares and the village of Kraljeva Sutjeska (central Bosnia), should be moved to the refugee camp of Savudrija, whereas the refugees already sheltered there are to leave the camp, according to the UNHCR spokeswoman. About 1300 refugees should leave the Savudrija camp, and most of them are Moslems, some accommodated there for two years, she added. They would be now relocated to various places such as the former military barracks "Karlo Rojc" in the town of Pula, in Kamenjak, Puntizela, while some refugees would be moved from the camp of Savudrija to the camp of Gasinci. A session was held in Savudrija on 13 July (Wednesday), at which representatives of the Croatian Office for the Displaced Persons and Refugees were present as well. "The refugees in the Savudrija camp expressed their willingness that the refugees from Pineta might be accommodated also in Savudrija. This is possible, because the Savudrija camp used to accommodate up to 2,500 people. But they do not consent to being moved into various directions (from Savudrija)," said the UNHCR spokeswoman Lisinski. She warned that after declining to be moved from Savudrija 89 people were refused to have the status of refugees any more. Besides, the electricity was cut off for them today, and food supplies were not been provided for them also. Spokeswoman Lisinski said that about 80 people agreed to leave Savudrija for Spadici near Porec and Puntizela. UNHCR hopes that through contacts with the Croatian Office for the Displaced Persons and Refugees an adequate solution will be found to the problem so that the refugees in "Pineta" and Savudrija should not experience new difficulties. UNHCR expresses regrets at the belief that it would not be the acceptable that the refugees might be together accommodated in Savudrija, the UNHCR spokeswoman, Alemka Lisinski, said today in Zagreb. 142030 MET jul 94