§ Lord Tebbitasked Her Majesty's Government:
How many people were (a) killed, (b) wounded and (c) rendered homeless in each of Serbia and Kosovo during the periods 1 November 1998 to 21 March 1999, 21 March 1999 to 10 June 1999 and since 10 June 1999 respectively. [HL1039]
§ Baroness Ramsay of CartvaleWe do not have any reliable figures for numbers killed, wounded or displaced in Serbia for the dates given. We would not expect the Serb authorities to release reliable figures.
In Kosovo, we estimate that at least 10,000 Kosovo Albanian civilians were killed between June 1998 and June 1999. Most of these deaths occurred in the period between March and June 1999. Up to the start of the NATO campaign, according to the UNHCR, 200,000 Kosovo Albanians were displaced internally, with around 70,000 refugees outside Kosovo. As a result of Serb repression around 850,000 Kosovo Albanians were forced to leave Kosovo between March and June 1999; up to half a million more were made homeless within Kosovo. NATO's intervention made possible the return within weeks of over 90 per cent of the refugees.
There were 430 murders reported in Kosovo between 12 June 1999 and 25 December. There are no figures available for woundings. KFOR's presence has resulted in a significant reduction in the number of reported major offences from over 300 in the last week of June to fewer than 50 in the last week of November last year.