Russian rescue workers to open camps for Serbian refugees

Specialists from the Russian Ministry for Emergencies have begun work to open two camps intended to accommodate Serbian refugees fleeing Kosovo as the result of ethnic cleansing there.

In an interview with Vesti from Belgrade, the head of the ministry, Sergei Shoigu, said that following talks with Serbian Prime Minister Voislav Koshtunitsa, Russian specialists would begin providing technical assistance Tuesday to refugees from Kosovo, including the establishment of two temporary camps.

The Russian side would provide practically everything, including tents, water purification equipment and bedding. More substantial assistance would take the form of a hospital run by the ministry capable of treating up to 600 patients a day.

'Our task is to do everything in our power to ease people's suffering. It seems to us that there must be a very clear and technologically based program to return all those who have been obligated to flee Kosovo. It has to be separate from the ordinary political measures aimed at stabilizing the situation. People must be able to return to their homes,' said Shoigu.