Accurate number of people coming from Albania to Kosovo still unknown

It is now known that a considerable number of people from areas affected by the earthquake have entered Kosovo.

Kosovo's acting prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, has indicated that in Kosovo, thousands of people from Albania who are being identified and sheltered either on individual grounds or in an institutionally organised manner have arrived.

The Kosovaro-German Training Camp in Prizren has been filled with all the capacities it has and we are engaged in identifying persons and offering housing”, Haradinaj has declared.

He has said that the engagement of institutions since the first day after this disaster has been institutional and co-ordinated, and thus, he has added, should also manage citizens' willful actions.

Fran Qaushi, from Durres, a city affected by the earthquake, told Radio Free Europe, along with his family has come to Kosovo.

I've come with my family here because of the nature disaster from the earthquake that fell. I came by the buses that came to the stadium where we were in the tent. The buses came and called on us who has the desire to come to Kosovo. We decided to come to Kosovo”, Qaushi said.

Natasha Mile, who comes from Durres, also shows that she is pleased with the hospitality being extended to her family.

The hotels are organized here and they tell us if you want to stay at the hotel, you can stay at the hotel, if you have any families you can go. If you want to go to the family we can organize... it means the organization was perfect”, says Mile.

Officials at the Ministry of Internal Affairs told Radio Free Europe that through border points between Kosovo and Albania, so far, they have not established any special investigation into obtaining information about where people who enter Kosovo go.

Nehat Kocija, public relations official from the Agency for Emergency Management, which operates within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, told Radio Free Europe, that so far it is estimated there are 500 people who are registered in Prizren.

“Access or the number of people who entered the customs dots that were arranged in hotels or private family homes, we don't at the moment. At the customs point, on the other hand, it has not been set up as a mechanism, though it would be much more likely to get up there, but this accession centre in Prizren could either cover or play the customs dot”, Kocija said.

On the other hand, Kosovo police and customs authorities have said that only during Thursday's day in Kosovo from Albania have 13,505 people entered.

Kosovo Police spokesman Bucky Kelani told Radio Free Europe that over the past three days, increased border crossings from Albania to Kosovo have been marked, but also vice versa.

The number of buses, which have entered three border crossings over the past 24 hours, has been 155, while 69 have been recorded at the exit. In total, however, the number of persons controlled in the entry over the past 24 hours at these three border crossings has been 13,505. As long as 5,885 persons are registered at the exit, said Kelani.

He explained that during the search of documentation the border police have not made any ID concerning those who entered Kosovo, whether they belong to areas affected by the earthquake, respectively.

In Prizren, the mayor of the municipality, Mytaher Haskuka, told Radio Free Europe that it is not known exactly what the number of persons are taking refuge in this municipality, except those enrolled in the Kosovaro German Inovative Training Camp.

We have 500 people and a lot of people came from last night. It means there's only 500 people in the camp even though it's said there's room for 800, according to the analysis, and it's not good for other people to be deployed there”, Haskuka said.

He said it is a considerable number of people expected to be accommodated.

There are over 200 people in the house, according to some evidence, and even if hotels get around 200, that means we're sending in. Now we're going to set up a phone number where the registration can be made to receive health services and education and social services, and then I believe that those who sign up voluntarily and that way I think we'll know the exact number of persons are in Prizren”, Haskuka said.

Kosovo Government acting Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has invited citizens who want to offer assistance with necessary food and materials to send to the Kosovo Security Force's Kazerma in Prizren, and then they will be sent carefully and checked to countries where there is need.

The November 26th quake with a 6.4-magnitude Ricter magnitude simultaneously was the strongest in decades to have hit Albania. Its focus was on the Adriatic Sea, about 30km northwest of Tirana.

At least 49 people have died and thousands more have been injured in earthquakes that hit Albania since the early hours of Tuesday morning.