(29 Jun 1999) Albanian/Nat
Another convoy of refugees returned to the Kosovo on Tuesday, during the second day of mass repatriation from Macedonia.
145 refugees left the Stenkovic refugee camp for Urosevac.
They crossed the Blace border crossing, along with returning refugees from the Pristina and Cegrane regions.
Refugee camps are starting to empty, as more ethnic Albanians opt to return to their homes.
Many are leaving Stenkovic 1 in Macedonia as part of a organised repatriation scheme.
The International organisation for Migration(I-O-M) has organised buses for the refugees.
Until two weeks ago, more than 30-thousand refugees lived in Stenkovic, six miles from Skopje.
By the end of the week, it's expected to be little more than an empty wasteland of tents and rubbish.
An I-O-M spokesman says he hopes his organisation will also start repatriating refugees who have been staying with host families.
SOUNDBITE:(English)
"Today is the second day of the movements that we have been running, and there is a 145 people that have come here to the Ferizaj area of Kosovo. We are starting to expand the programme to include other camps, in fact today we started the movement from Cegrani Camp which was at one point the largest camp. And we are hoping that in the next couple of days we will also are starting to offer the programme to the host families in Macedonia."
SUPER CAPTION: Micheal Burton, I-O-M spokesman
These refugees have been taken home to Urosevac in Kosovo.
The town is in the American-controlled part of Kosovo.
Refugees on the buses, slowed by a two mile (3km) long queue of military vehicles and trucks, hugged and cried as they were driven across the border.
The UNHCR said these last refugees had waited for U-N transport because they could not afford to go back on their own.
Unlucky refugees who return to find their homes have been burned during their absence, are expected to stay in the temporary accommodation provided by the U-N-H-C-R.
U-N High Commissioner for Refugees (U-N-H-C-R) officials say they would have liked more time to prepare the transfer.
On their arrival, refugees are handed leaflets warning them about mines and unexploded ordinances.
About half of the 785-thousand who fled the violent conflict in Kosovo have already returned on their own, defying aid agencies' pleas to stay put until KFOR (Kosovo peacekeepers) could secure their safety.
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