Скачать или смотреть YUGOSLAVIA: KOSOVO: SERB EXODUS

(17 Jun 1999) Eng/Serbo-Croat/Nat

As ethnic Albanian refugees stream back into Kosovo, many of the province's Serb residents continue to flee in fear of reprisals.

From all over Kosovo, trains, cars and horse-drawn wagons full of Serb families made their way to the border with Serbia and Montenegro on Thursday.

Up to 50-thousand Serbs were said to be on the move from the town of Urosevac as fears of reprisals by ethnic Albanians reached fever pitch.

Serb residents were also filing out of Podujevo and crowding train stations in towns like Obilic, jamming main routes into Serbia - the only place they believe they'll be safe.

NATO troops are trying in vain to convince the Serbs to stay put, but their promises to protect all of Kosovo's citizens appear to be going unheeded.

A reversal of fortunes.

A few weeks ago, it was ethnic Albanians who were packing their bags, now it's Kosovo's Serbs, fearful of Albanian retribution.

On Thursday, the main railway station in Urosevac looked more like a refugee camp as the town's Serb population tried to make their escape.

Thousands of civilians gathered at the rail station, waiting for trains to take them to the Serb stronghold of Kosovo Polje, near the border with Serbia.

Streets in the town were lined with cars and tractors piled with Serb families waiting anxiously to leave.

NATO forces watched helplessly - unable to stem the relentless flow of refugees.

Additional NATO reinforcements of U-S and Greek troops arrived in Urosevac on Thursday.

But NATO's presence did little to convince the Serb residents to stay.

A U-S soldier confirmed that the return of Kosovo Liberation Army forces to the town had prompted the Serb exodus.

SOUNDBITE:
"Now the Serbian soldiers are gone the Serbian people are getting pretty scared so they are going ahead and moving out".
SUPER CAPTION: Sergeant Szikowski, US Soldier

NATO has pledged to make Kosovo safe again for everyone living there - but many residents who are not ethnic Albanian aren't listening.

Carts full of Serb and gypsy Kosovars headed north from the town of Podujevo towards the border with Serbia on Thursday, hoping to find safety among their fellow Serbs.

They too fear that revenge may be the first thing on the minds of ethnic Albanians returning to their homes after the end of the conflict.

The Kosovar Albanians left their homes amid allegations of ethnic cleansing and massacres by the Serbs.

Now that they are coming back, many Serb residents are choosing to leave before violence breaks out.

In Podujevo itself, 40 kilometres north of Pristina, British forces arrived as part of NATO's K-FOR peacekeeping mission.

But NATO's presence gave little assurance to Serbs who appeared convinced that without their own Serb army to protect them, they would become victims themselves.

In the village of Gracanica, south of Pristina, K-FOR soldiers were met by similar attitudes amongst the Serbs.

An anxious crowd of Serbs gathered at a local house where British troop leaders tried to coax them to stay.

The soldiers tried their best to reassure the population they were there to protect everybody.

But many locals remained unconvinced.

SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"I believe in NATO, I believe in NATO but they have to get here quicker."
SUPER CAPTION: Serb villager

The train station in the town of Obilic months ago would have been occupied by Kosovar Albanians, anxious to escape persecution at the hands of Serb forces in the region.



There were some hectic scenes as people scrambled for a place in the carriages.


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