NZ Gives $200,000 To Kosovo Refugees

  • Simon Upton
Associate Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade

New Zealand will contribute $200,000 from the overseas aid programme to assist refugees who have fled Kosovo, Foreign Minister Don McKinnon and Associate Foreign Minister Simon Upton said today.

"The Red Cross will receive $100,000, while another $100,000 will go to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR)," the Ministers said.

The funding will assist displaced persons in Kosovo and other areas of Yugoslavia, as well as Kosovo refugees arriving in Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Bosnia.

"The humanitarian crisis in Kosovo has reached tragic proportions and continues to worsen by the day," the Ministers said.

"Aid agencies, including UNHCR, believe that half a million people may have been displaced from their homes in Kosovo, and neighbouring countries are being flooded with refugees."

Mr McKinnon and Mr Upton said that New Zealand's contributions to the Red Cross and UNHCR would be used to provide food, shelter, blankets and other essential supplies.