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| HELPING HANDS | |
 April 19, 1999 
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Following a report on the situation, Margaret Warner discusses caring for thousands of refugees with Jeffrey Colyer, a physician with the International Medical Corps, and Dennis McNamara, director of the International Protection Division of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
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TERRY LLOYD: We set off to find the secret route through the snow-topped mountains guided by 22-year-old Valentin Luajeri. The economic student and his family had fled to Montenegro three weeks before when Serb forces overran their hometown of Pege.
The old man we passed had walked through the night, using his walking
stick as an ice pick. Mules laden with family possessions stumbled along
the way. At last, the Great Plateau, etched with the route marks of fleeing feet. We had reached the frontier. Within minutes of entering Kosovo, the still of the mountain air was broken by the noise of patrolling allied planes. The exodus continued; more pitiful sights confronted us. Most people, though, were too frightened or exhausted to talk. |
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| Warned not to go on. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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We altered course and met 58-year-old Sadri Mark Suti, who was carrying fuel and fodder to a makeshift home submerged in the snow. Hidden inside his log cabin were 30 terrified refugees with nowhere else to go. They sheltered us for the night and related many horror stories. MAN: Serb forces entered into the villages, and they are burning tractor, cars, whatever they found.
INTERPRETER: No. They are not safe here. TERRY LLOYD: Why is that? INTERPRETER: They are saying that Serb forces can very quickly arrive here. TERRY LLOYD: The next morning, in pouring rain, we said our good-byes. MAN: Bye-bye. TERRY LLOYD: As we began to retrace our footsteps, three of the men folk asked to join us to test the route and the safety for their families. They walked in their best suits with only umbrellas for protection. Along the way, they were met by friends, but there was no good news.
TERRY LLOYD: The old man, who had taken a route we'd avoided, had been shot dead by a sniper. At long last, we were approaching safety along the beaten track, which has become a lifeline for so many. Journeys end back at the foot of the mountain range. It's been an exhausting experience, and it can only be sheer terror which forces the young and the old, the women and the children to make that arduous and perilous trek across the mountains. Thousands have pushed the limits of human endurance already and many more will try if they can. |
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| Just one of many thousands. | ||||||||||||||||||||
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REFUGEE: (speaking through interpreter) They told us we have three hours to leave our houses. Or they would burn us inside. There is no place for you, go to Albania. SAIRA SHAH: Because they've got a vehicle of sorts, Albanian authorities encourage them to keep moving deep into the country. In practice, they've been left to fend for themselves. They have no food, advice, where to go. So, they're trying to find the rest of their village. REFUGEE: Do you know people from Kudian? We're neighbors.
SAIRA SHAH: It's their best lead yet. So they set off. At about the same time, help is at hand for the man we saw at the border. He's at an Italian military medical camp. His name is Genardine Hazari, but he's lost his relatives. He has a lung infection. There's pressure to discharge him. But without family to look after him doctors, think he will die.
SAIRA SHAH: Refugees like the Alios aren't even offered a tent. They've pinned their hopes on the mosque, where they think they'll find their neighbors. But when they reach it, there's disappointment. What the hell is happening? They've already left -- they are offered a bed for the night by a local. Bring your children or else they'll die. "We can't come. Let them die." She says, "We're going to die here. We're staying." He's frightened to trust the man. They've been told the Mafia preys on refugees. "Take your children. We're Albanians; all of you come. Get in the cart. How could you spend the whole night here? Most refugees eventually find shelter with Albanian family, but the country is saturated. The UNHCR gives the government food for host families. They don't always get it. MAN: I have 43 people in my house. SAIRA SHAH: Is he paying for them all?
SAIRA SHAH: Does he get money from the government for that? MAN: No. SAIRA SHAH: But the family won't be persuaded. They've been through too much to risk more danger. |
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JIM
LEHRER: We begin our refugee update with two reports from the scene.
The first is by Terry Lloyd of Independent Television News, who retraced
a secret escape route some Kosovo refugees are using to reach Montenegro.
As
we reach the snow line, ITN's cameramen captured the first graphic evidence
of what people are enduring. This wounded woman had been dragged along
the hazardous mountain route for eight hours. One man with local knowledge
told us to change direction. We had been heading towards a new Serb
checkpoint. We had heard the stories of hardship. They were impossible
to fully comprehend before this trek. 
Yet
mothers carried babies, finding strength in the hope of escaping. Her
child was sick and needed antibiotics. We were carrying medical supplies
in case we could help. "Slow down," they shouted as we carried
on. But speed was never an issue as we picked our way up the rising
mountain slopes. 
It's
now five and a half hours since we set off. And we're deep inside the
Kosovo Mountains. But we have just witnessed a column of KLA soldiers
on the retreat from the Serb advance and filing down the hillside over
there. Locals have also said that the Serbs are advancing from the hill
behind me. And we've been warned not to go on. 
TERRY
LLOYD: Do these people feel safe here now? 
MAN:
Those people tell us that one man, one old man has been killed yesterday.
SAIRA
SHAH, ITN, Albania: A refugee crosses a border that's supposed to be
closed. "Come and help him," says a Yugoslav border guard.
The two countries have just severed relations. Albanian police don't
dare approach. There's an agony of waiting. It's left to a French medical
team to break through. The man is rescued for now. But he's just one
of many thousands needing help. 
SAIRA
SHAH : A little way down the hill, the family crossed the border an
hour before. Mother, father, grandmother and ten children have been
walking for two and a half days. 
REFUGEE:
They're at the mosque --- see all of them - they're at the mosque. 
DR.
PAOLO GHRINGELLI, Italian Army Medic: For me it's in a problem. I'm
here to work. But when I go away, my nation goes away, the person under
tent -- what to do? They die. 
MAN:
Yes. 
