MACEDONIA: KOSOVO: REFUGEE CAMP: CLINTON GOES ON A WALKABOUT

(22 Jun 1999) Natural Sound

Ethnic Albanians have given U-S President Clinton a tumultuous welcome at a Macedonian refugee camp.

With Serb forces now out of Kosovo, the refugees are free to return to their homeland.

Many consider Clinton as their saviour.

President Clinton arrived in Stenkovic refugee camp looking to the future rather than the past.

He is considered as a saviour by many here, in this camp outside the Macedonian capital of Skopje.

And he's expected to use that support to get through a message of rebuilding rather that revenge.

If the President's visit had come at the height of the Kosovan refugee crisis, crowd control might have been a problem, but at Stenkovic camp the population is thinning rapidly.

Now that the Serb pullout of Kosovo is complete, more and more people are returning home every day.

This camp once housed over thirty thousand refugees, comparatively few of that number now remain.

Stenkovic I, which despite the dwindling numbers remains the largest refugee camp in Macedonia, was also the first established by NATO to meet the needs of those fleeing Kosovo.

The U-S State Department and US-AID have provided U-S 10-point-4 (m) million dollars to support essential services here and in other camps in Macedonia.

Overall, the United States has provided more than U-S 220 (m) million dollars in humanitarian assistance for the Balkans since March 1998, U-S 150 (m) million dollars of which was given since the mass exodus of refugees from Kosovo began in March of this year.

Clinton is wrapping up a week-long trip that won commitment from the European Union to help in the costly reconstruction of Kosovo.

Security is tight.

Two car bombs have exploded in the Macedonian capital recently - a previously unknown group called 'Macedonia Dawn' has claimed responsibility.

The latest device was detonated in front of NATO headquarters last week.

The group has warned of similar action during Clinton's visit.

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