He added there was still a chance Milosevic could strike a deal with NATO to allow Kosovo refugees to return under some kind of international protection. Western aid organisations, seeking a long-term answer to the refugee crisis caused by the war in Kosovo, have been looking to Bosnia for possible solutions, reports BBC News . It is the intention of the international community that all displaced people from the Bosnian war should eventually be able to return to their original towns and villages. But very few have so far done so. The more time that passes, the less likely it is that people will wish to go back.
Temporary solutions become permanent.
In some ways, the return of Albanian refugees to their homes in Kosovo will be easier. But Western officials nevertheless believe it will be essential to get them home as quickly as possible when the fighting ends. NATO is considering a plan to return 700,000 Albanians to their homes in just one month, as soon as there is peace. The plan envisages refugees taking their tents with them from camps in Macedonia or Albania and setting them up in their home villages. This might keep communities intact, enable farm work to be done and re-building to commence.