Saturday, May 15, 1999 Published at 09:55 GMT 10:55 UK
UN failing Kosovo refugees - MPs
"UNHCR didn't cope at the beginning and it is still failing"
A committee of MPs has condemned a United Nations' agency for its handling of the Kosovo refugee crisis.
The International Development Committee report, published on Saturday, said: "UNHCR did not even make adequate preparations for the volume of refugees which it itself had predicted would flee from Kosovo.
Committee chairman, Conservative MP Bowen Wells, said it was no excuse that UNHCR had been taken by surprise by the crisis.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "It hasn't taken humanitarian forces in Albania by suprise. In the absence of UNHCR they have been doing a great deal of effective work."
The report also highlights the failure of UNHCR to set up a registration system for refugees after they had their identity documents taken by Serb forces.
It said little had been done to provide proper shelter for winter or sanitation for summer.
The report concluded: "No doubt the scale and speed of expulsions from Kosovo were unexpected.
"We nevertheless criticise the response of the UNHCR, which has so far failed to provide effective leadership and co-ordination during the crisis.
A UNHCR spokesman told the BBC: "We find the tone of this report very regrettable and we regret even more the fact UNHCR was not given any chance to discuss the report with the committee itself.
"We believe the report is largely based on outdated information, incomplete information and in some cases inaccurate information."
A previous appeal had asked for $146m, but it received only half of this amount - all of which has been spent, it said.
By Friday the agency said it had received $10m in total from the US and Canada, and the EU had been "encouraging" about a further $20m.
Latest estimates from UNHCR put the number of people displaced from Kosovo at more than 748,000 since Nato bombing started on 24 March.
The UK, which has been criticised for its hesitation in taking in refugees, has now offered to take up to 1,000 refugees a week under the UNHCR evacuation programme.
The Northern Ireland Office has also said the province would host an unspecified number of refugees identified as priority cases by the UNHCR.
UK Politics Contents
A-Z of Parliament