But on Wednesday, the sun rose over a desolate wasteland. Gone were the teeming masses of desperate refugees, huddled against the rain and cold, collapsing from exposure and disease. In their place stood mountains of trash, mud, and human waste. Most of the refugees were moved to a gleaming new NATO tent city in Brazda, and thousands of others found temporary new homes at other relief camps nearby. NATO officials said the Brazda camp could hold up to 60,000 people, and that six other tent cities were being constructed and supplied in advance of the arrival of additional refugees.
Refugees have access to food, shelter, clean water, and medical care.
Of serious concern to NATO leaders, however, is the fate of the tens of thousands of refugees who had been waiting to enter Macedonia from the Kosovo side of the border. Relief officials in Albania and Macedonia expressed concern about the fate of the Kosovars, questioning whether the Serbs might use the refugees as human shields to deter NATO bombing attacks. They left the problem for Macedonia. Georgievski said 81,000 refugees have been registered by Macedonian officials, and he estimated that the country has absorbed at least 130,000 ethnic Albanians since the bombing campaign began two weeks ago. In all, nearly 450,000 Kosovars have fled that country since the start of hostilities.