150 route de Ferney, P.O. Box 2100 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland Tel: 41 22 791 6033 Fax: 41 22 791 6506 Appeal e-mail: [email protected] Coordinating Office Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Macedonia Crisis - Assistance to Internally Displaced EUMC11 Appeal Target: US$ 424,743 Geneva, July 5, 2001 Dear Colleagues, Months of intense conflict between ethnic Albanian insurgents and Macedonian Government forces (Security Forces) in FY Republic of Macedonia, have brought the country to the edge of a civil war. Frequent military actions and clashes that continue to destabilize the peace and order in the country, are also causing large population movements and displacement, likewise affecting neighboring countries. While the Government supported by international community is searching for a durable political solution, some 50,000 ethnic Albanians and Macedonians remain displaced within Macedonia, seeking shelter with relatives or friends as well as in the recently established collective centers in the area of the capital Skopje. From the very beginning of the crisis, ACT member, Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC), has forcefully pursued peace-promoting actions, inter-religious dialogue and small-scale emergency response to the affected population within Macedonia. MCIC has also served as a reliable source of information relative to the on-going conflict – for the international, local, as well as ACT network. As the main local member in Macedonia, MCIC has been given the lead by ACT International to pursue an emergency operation in the country. At the same time, ACT members in Kosovo and Albania are preparing a humanitarian action in response to thousands of refugees from Macedonia. EUMC-11 appeal is largely based on MCIC Contingency plan (Macedonia crisis 2001) and outcomes of the ACT Balkans Regional meeting in Skopje (22/06) that outlined a new ACT strategy in Balkans. ACT is a worldwide network of churches and related agencies meeting human need through coordinated emergency response. The ACT Coordinating Office is based with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) in Switzerland. Macedonia Crisis - Ass. to Internally Displaced 2 Appeal No. EUMC11 Project Completion Date: 31 December 2001 (6 months) Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance Requested US$ Total Appeal Target(s) 424,743 Less: Pledges/Contr. Recd. 0 Balance Requested from ACT Network 424,743 Please kindly send your contributions to the following ACT bank account: Account Number - 102539/0.01.061 (USD) Account Name: ACT - Action by Churches Together Banque Edouard Constant Cours de Rive 11 Case postale 3754 1211 Genève 3 SWITZERLAND Please also inform the Finance Officer Jessie Kgoroeadira (direct tel. +4122/791.60.38, e-mail address [email protected]) of all pledges/contributions and transfers, including funds sent direct to the implementers, now that the Pledge Form is no longer attached to the Appeal. We would appreciate being informed of any intent to submit applications for EU, USAID and/or other back donor funding and the subsequent results. We thank you in advance for your kind cooperation. For further information please contact: ACT Co-ordinator, Thor-Arne Prois (phone +41 22 791 6033 or mobile phone + 41 79 203 6055) or ACT Appeals Officer, Leila Dzaferovic (phone +41 22 791 6710 or mobile phone +41 79 672 0549) ACT Web Site address: http://www.act-intl.org Ms. Geneviève Jacques Thor-Arne Prois Rev. Rudolf Hinz Director ACT Coordinator Director WCC/Cluster on Relations LWF/World Service Macedonia Crisis - Ass. to Internally Displaced 3 Appeal No. EUMC11 I. REQUESTING ACT MEMBER Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCIC). II. IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER AND PARTNER INFORMATION Description of ACT Member The Macedonian Centre for International Cooperation (MCIC) is a humanitarian, non-governmental and non-profit organization, founded in 1993 as a joint initiative of Dutch Interchurch Aid and local organisations. MCIC operates in domains of sustainable development, awareness raising and social humanitarian aid. The overall aim of MCIC is provision of support and development of local and national initiatives for promotion of sustainable development of human resources in Macedonia. MCIC’s objectives are: the promotion of peace, the development of civil society and assistance to groups in need. These objectives are realised through work in several sectors: civil society, awareness raising and democratisation; rural development; water supplying and sanitation; employment and income generation; health and education; emergency relief. MCIC obtains funding from various agencies-members of the World Council of Churches and from governmental and international organisations. MCIC focus and priorities rest with long-term development activities, in line with its programme objectives (also including emergency response in the case of natural or man-made disasters) in Macedonia and wider. Considering the current crisis in Macedonia, MCIC prepared “Scenarios for development of the situation and contingency plan”, (doc. no. 12-332/1-2001, dated 05 May 2001), outlining four potential levels of the crisis and possible MCIC response to each of those. MCIC proposed emergency response is entirely based on that document and will be implemented in cooperation with Action by Churches Together International (ACT Int’l). Description of ACT Member’s Implementing Partners MCIC has a long-standing cooperation with local NGO’s. Besides the close relations with 22 partner organisations, MCIC works with a large number of local “grassroot” NGO’s. In the current emergency response to the refugee crisis in Macedonia, MCIC is coordinating its activities with: El Hilal (humanitarian organisation of Islamic Religious Community in Macedonia), Gjakonia (humanitarian organisation of Macedonian Orthodox Church), Mesecina (largest Roma NGO), the Macedonian Red Cross (MRC), Natyra (local NGO from the Lipkovo crisis region) and other NGO’s. Please see Appendix I III. DESCRIPTION OF THE EMERGENCY SITUATION Background Inter-ethnic relations between Macedonians and the ethnic Albanians is one of the most complex issues in the political life of Macedonia. It is a long-standing issue very often influenced by the situation in the wider region. Macedonia Crisis - Ass. to Internally Displaced 4 Appeal No. EUMC11 During the last ten years, relations between the ethnic Macedonians and ethnic Albanians have been characterized as a ‘relative alienation with elements of mutual respect'. According to the last census (1994), ethnic composition of Macedonia is as follows: Macedonians (67%), Albanians (23%), Turks (4%), Roma (2%), Serbs (2%), Others (2%). For more details on ethnic composition per municipalities, please see MCIC Contingency Plan (05.05.2001) Inter-ethnic relations have deteriorated over the past months due to the appearance of militant insurgent groups in February 2001. Their first actions were directed to the villages near the border with Kosovo, in the Tetovo and Skopje areas, and on the Skopska Crna Gora and Shar Planina mountains. The Government’s immediate response was to secure the political and military isolation of the ethnic Albanian insurgent. After the extremists were driven out from their positions in the mountains, a ceasefire was an- nounced after which most of the 20,000 refugees returned to their homes. The ceasefire provided space necessary for the political dialogue on the long-term solution of the crisis. This dialogue is being led mostly by the Forum of the party leaders in the President's Office. Following the ceasefire in April 2001, the situation deteriorated again on April 28th when eight soldiers were massacred in a terrorist ambush near the village of Vejce, close to the Kosovo border in the Tetovo area. In a reaction to the massacre, attacks occurred on Albanian properties at the beginning of May. Other nationalities were also victims of these revenge attacks. The turmoil was most intense in Bitola on May 1st and 2nd, and some incidents have been reported in Skopje, Veles and other towns. Afterwards, the insurgents in the so-called National Liberation Army (NLA) made attacks on several villages in Lipkovo Municipality, Kumanovo area. Around 15,000 people were caught in skirmishes, after many unsuccessful appeals from the security forces for them to evacuate the area. The latest NLA attempt to extend the area of conflict was in the village of Aracinovo, near Skopje (10 km from the centre of the city), was stopped by Macedonian security forces action after 2 weeks siege of the village. In parallel to the military activities, there was a heavy international pressure aimed at forming a grand coalition government to include the main opposition parties. This was seen as the best way to achieve the stabilization in the country, through political dialogue between the main actors in Macedonia. The new Government was formed in May, but did not bring the results expected by the international community by the end of June. Description of Damage Damage to the community infrastructure in the affected areas can not be assessed at the time being due to the ongoing military activities. However, according to media reports and witnesses from the villages, the first impression is that there has been heavy destruction to private homes and other infrastructure in the villages where extremists were positioned. This is due to the military tactics of the Macedonian forces, who carried out long and heavy shelling of the villages, after ensuring that the civilian population had left the village. Villages from the first phase of the conflict in March (e.g. Tanusevci and Gracani, with app. 300 houses) have been level to the ground. More then half of the houses in the other villages in the current conflict area (Vaksince, Slupcane, Matejce in Lipkovo area – app. 1,200 houses; Aracinovo in Skopje area – 2,000) have been destroyed (CAT 5). Serious damage has also been done within the agriculture sector. Most of the livestock was left in the affec- ted villages, when people fled from their homes.