Date : 02/2000

Country/Region : YUGOSLAVIA; KOSOVO

Title : Serbia, Kosovo : aid

Duration : 00:02:23

Director : PAGONIS, Jennifer

Cameraman : SIDLER, Roland

Editor : unknown

Keyword : ICRC SIGN; YUGOSLAV; RC YUGOSLAVIA; DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY; RED CROSS MESSAGE; DISPLACED PERSON; RUINS

Confidentiality level : public

Publication restrictions : publication without restrictions

Copyright : CNN; ICRC

Production company : CNN

ICRC producer :
none

Description : Even though much of the damage caused by NATO airstrikes has been repaired in Nis there is still enough rubble and burnt out cars and buildings to serve as a reminder of the war.
After having fled their home in Kosovo, the family of 45 year old Zora Savic has managed to find shelter in the small Serbian village of Merosina in the outskirts of Nis. In the kitchen of the two room dwelling she now lives in, she
shows a Red Cross message she received from a family member left behind in Kosovo. Zora’s 24 year old daughter, Yasmina, explains that her husband and father were killed in Kosovo last June. With her 2 young children, she could not stay in Orahovac, in central Kosovo, because there was no electricity, water or food. Prokopovic Stojan, who works in Nis for the Serbian branch of the Yugoslav Red Cross speaks about the 14’OOO ethnic Serbs and some Roma displaced from Kosovo who are now living in the town --just some of the more than 220’OOO now in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He says that the task of getting the town back to normal is compounded by the presence and urgent needs of the displaced people. Although their problems are similar to refugees, Serbs who have fled their homes in Kosovo are legally classed as displaced people rather than refugees. Refugees have to cross an international border.
The United Nations and the international community still formally consider Kosovo to be a part of Federal Republic of Yugoslavia despite the fact that the province is run by the UN. At a distribution centre in Nis, the Red Cross gives displaced people a monthly ration of wheat flour, rice, oil, sugar, beans. Some of these supplies are donated by the European Community, other items are bought locally by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Other displaced people, on the outskirts of Nis, are directly supplied by Red Cross workers. Some have moved into a motel which is closed to the public during the winter season. The ICRC has already handed out new clothes, shoes, blankets, mattresses and toiletries to these people, as well as those living in other parts of the country. In Kosovo itself, the Red Cross has opened a workshop to repair tractors in Malishevo. Tractors are considered as an essential tool for farmers in this predominantly agricultural region. Elsewhere, schools are being rebuilt. It has been months since children have been able to study in classrooms.

Original language : English

French title : Serbia, Kosovo : aid

Colour/B&W : colour

Original material/format : Betacam SX

Best material/format available : Betacam SP