MACEDONIA: KOSOVAR REFUGEES ARRIVE AT THE BORDER

(10 Apr 1999) Eng/Albanian/Nat A group of about 50 Kosovo Albanian refugees entered Macedonia on Saturday through a previously closed-border crossing and claimed they left behind a town terrorised by Serb forces and civilians. The refugees entered Macedonia three days after Belgrade shut down Kosovo's international borders, raising fears about the ethnic Albanians left behind. The refugees were met by international monitors at the Blace border crossing and were taken to Brazda camp. A trickle of refugees crossed into Macedonia through the border crossing at Blace and were met by international monitors. They said they had left behind a community being terrorised by Serb civilians and forces. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) "They let us go through because William Walker (head of the O-S-C-E) mission who's there (Brazda) and they could see a camera and they let us pass." SUPER CAPTION: Idris Ramadani (man) and Teuta Rama (woman), Refugees They told international monitors they had walked along railway tracks to avoid Serb minefields. They claimed they left Serb forces in Uroshevac who were terrorising the local ethnic Albanians. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) "We still have people there (Uroshevac). Everything is blocked. Everything is dead. We could hardly get out of there." SUPER CAPTION: Ramadan Ramadani, Refugee The new arrivals were bussed to refugee camps where international aid agencies and NATO forces were on hand to help them. SOUNDBITE: (English) "Seeing a friendly, smiling face generally makes quite a big of difference. It's a soldier who's not going to attack them, put it that way. They're relaxed." SUPER CAPTION: Sergeant Major Hawkins, NATO soldier Thousands of refugees who have made it out of Kosovo have been flown to temporary haven in third countries. But the bulk remain in the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia and Albania, where aid supplies have been arriving in force. NATO said on Saturday that during last 24 hours there had been 79 aid flights into Macedonia and 66 into Albania. Both groups of flights carried food, water, medical supplies and tents. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...