A joint statement issued today by the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), says the move is an emergency requirement for the health and safety of internally-displaced persons (IDPs) and their children.
The statement says UNMIK, WHO, and UNICEF are once again urging Roma, Ashkali, and Egyptian IDPs to vacate the lead-polluted camps in northern Mitrovica and Zvecan and move their families to the safer environment offered by UNMIK, at Osterode Camp.
The families were forced to leave their houses when they were attacked by ethnic Albanian extremists in mid-1999.
Kosovo is a Serbian province under United Nations administration.
(AFP)