The town has grown in a few weeks from about 20,000 to over 100,000 inhabitants. The camps are scattered wherever space allows around the town. They vary from extremely basic to relatively comfortable. All the camps are run either by non government organisations or by the armies of various governments, and all are overcrowded. The work of AI's research team is to find among the thousands of refugees those who have seen or suffered the worst of the abuses occurring in Kosovo.
Every refugee has a tragic and moving story.
The people we have to talk to are those who have seen members of their families or neighbours shot before their eyes, or who were witnesses or victims of rape, beatings, stabbings, shootings, arbitrary arrest and 'disappearance'. The researchers work to identify possible serious abuses through a variety of sources. Often going from tent to tent, they track down people from the locality of the reported incident. These people help identify families or individuals who were victims or witnesses. Once found, the interviewing begins.