They rarely have canvas tents or prefabricated housing. Another major difference is in the type of food supplied. World Food Program officials say both Europeans and African refugees are geting about 2,100 calories per day of food rations. But for the Kosovo Albanians, those calories come in the form of tins of chicken pate, foil-wrapped cheeses, fresh oranges and milk. In some ready-made meals, there's even coffee and fruit tarts.
Water is plentiful in most of the camps in the Balkans.
At one camp in Macedonia, German officials have even installed a fully functioning sewer treatment system. Instead of meals, they are given basic grains such as sorghum or wheat. In Africa, where many refugees eke out existence in seminomadic tribes, the bare provisions of shelter and health care offered by the refugee camp there are a step up in life for many. But in Europe, where many of the refugees from Kosovo had two cars, a city apartment and their own businesses, a night in a canvas tent with cold food is misery. The life in Africa is far more simple.