Sunday, 26 December, 1999, 13:22 GMTEurope's worst refugee crisis
The Kosovo conflict forced thousands from their home
By Claire Doole in Geneva
Europe is facing its worst refugee crisis since the end of World War II.
It is no longer just a destination for refugees - nearly 1m people have been displaced across the continent by war and natural disaster.
Several hundred thousand Chechens have crossed into neighbouring Ingushetia, fleeing the Russian military offensive. Many will be spending a miserable winter in railway carriages, tents or cooped up with host families.
In Kosovo, relief agencies are scrambling to provide shelter for those whose houses have been damaged or destroyed.
The UN refugee agency's special representative, Dennis McNamara, says: "It is going to be a very tough and very difficult winter for many people in Kosovo.
"There will still be families sitting there in very cold conditions, under plastic in the coming months. That's the reality with this magnitude of a problem that we're facing."Balkans suffer
Across the Balkans people are facing the new millennium far from home.
In Serbia alone, 700,000 people from Kosovo and previous conflicts in Bosnia and Croatia are living in collective centres.
The head of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Cornelio Sommaruga, says Europe's refugees are suffering because of political errors and commissions.
"I think this is a failure of governments, it's a failure of politics and it is a failure of religious leaders.
"I never expected that this would be the case of having such a high number of displaced people inside Europe," he says.Optimism
The international humanitarian organisations stress the conflicts could have been prevented, but there are some signs governments are learning from past mistakes.
The Director of the UN refugee agency's European operations, Anne Willem Buleved, is optimistic the stability pact for the Balkans will help the region's economic and social recovery.
"It's got off on the right track. There is still a momentum going, and let's hope that the political will is there [to do] what the politicians have signed up to, and that the money will be there in order to make this work," she says.
The most recent figures show nearly half of those seeking asylum in western Europe come from the Balkans.
Until that region is stabilised the rest of Europe can expect a flood of refugees crossing its borders.
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