The British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, has told thousands of refugees at Macedonia's Stenkovec camp that Britain is to increase the numbers being allowed into the United Kingdom. Mr Blair also announced that Britain is doubling its aid to Macedonia to £40 million to help it cope with the flood of ethnic Albanian refugees. The Prime Minister underlined the West's commitment to defeating "Serbia's policy of ethnic cleansing" and reassured the crowds gathered that the NATO air offensive was not a battle for territory but a battle for humanity.
Earlier, Mr Blair told British troops based in Macedonia that the work they were doing was important for the civilised world. Speaking to the Fourth Armoured Brigade, Mr Blair said that their role in the Balkans would make a huge difference to the security and the stability of the world in the 21st century. He said that whatever is necessary will be done to ensure that NATO's demands are achieved. Mr Blair was speaking at the start of a two-day visit to Macedonia and Romania.
The German Interior Minister, Otto Schilly has said his country will double the number of refugees it is prepared to take to 20,000. Germany has already sheltered more refugees than the rest of the European Union combined.
NATO has said it plans to build camps to house as many as 160,000 more Kosovars in Albania, including 60,000 near the border where Macedonia expelled thousands of refugees. British Army Lieutenant General John Reith told a news conference that a camp for 9,000 people had been started in the southeastern Albanian town of Korca. Macedonia, which is housing some 170,000 ethnic Albanians from Kosovo, has complained that its resources are being stretched to the limit. Albania has taken in more than 400,000 refuges and is prepared to accept more.
And, on the second day of her visit to the region, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, has urged the Irish government to bring forward its intake of refugees.
