"...I am just warning the international community that there is no possibility on pure humanitarian grounds to overcome winter for all this population if there is no political solution..."
European Community Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs Emma Bonino

"... Children are already dying from dysentery and dehydration...".
United Nations official in Kosova

"There are many, many tens of thousands of people who have been dislocated from their homes, but somewhere between 50 (thousand) and 100,000 -- it's hard for us to know for sure -- are above the -- I want to say æabove the tree line' -- at least at very high levels in the mountains, which means it will get colder there much more quickly than in the rest of the country. Winter is coming on; you could have a major humanitarian disaster."
US President Bill Clinton warned of a "humanitarian disaster" in Kosova.
Washington, D.C.9/16/98

"There is substantial evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity and violations of international humanitarian law...subject to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia." John Shattuck, US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy,
Human Rights and Labor, Belgrade, 9/7/98

"This is a political and military crisis, whose most visible symptoms are humanitarian. There should be no doubt that this is a war against civilians for political purposes...If we can provide a cease-fire and a pull-out of Serbian police and Yugoslav army forces...Only under conditions where civilians are not under attack can Serb and Albanian political leaders engage in negotiations and achieve a permanent and lasting peace based on democratic institutions.
Former US Senator Robert Dole, Belgrade, 9/7/98

"...In Kosova, thousands of Albanians are being ethnically cleansed by Serbian troops, and the administration seems paralyzed."
US Senator John McCain, Republican response to President Clinton's radio address, 8/22/98

"Winter in Kosova can start as early as mid-October while maybe more than 100,000 people are still seeking refuge in the forests and mountains and a humanitarian catastrophe looms."
German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, interview with ADTV, 8/23/98

The diseases are particularly striking the young children, because of the catastrophic living conditions.

Washington Post : "...A great shortage of food, medicine and hygienic items...".

The New York Times quoted The Catholic Relief Services (8/22/98):"...there will be a humanitarian catastrophe...";

The Washington Post (8/21/98) quoted an ethnic Albanian builder: "They shell the villages to make civilians flee...then come the tanks. They loot and put everything in trucks and then set fire to the houses.";

Agence France Presse: "...Serb-led Yugoslav forces unleashed...warplanes and helicopters..."

Financial Times:"...On July 24 the town of Rahovec was "... the scene of a massacre of civilians by police forces...";

The Guardian (London) said (8/25/98) the most recent offensive has brought "the estimated total of displaced people to more than 400,000 - almost a quarter of the entire Albanian population of the Serbian province. Three quarters of them are women."

The New York Times reported (8/26/98) that "international relief workers estimate as many as 20,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed by government forces."..."The humanitarian situation will amount to a catastrophe in the fall and winter," unless refugees are allowed to return to their homes."
Gerhard Jandl, political director in the Foreign Ministry of Austria, which currently holds the EU presidency

The UN Security Council in a Monday (8/24/98) statement warned it is "gravely concerned that given the increasing numbers of displaced persons, coupled with approaching winter, the situation in Kosova has the potential to become an even greater humanitarian disaster."

A high-ranking United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) official warned Monday (8/24/98) that some people will be "dying of starvation" in Kosova.

Reuters (8/24/98) reported: [Deputy chief of mission in former Yugoslavia Eduardo] "Arboledo warned that diarrhea, dehydration and disease are widespread among the displaced population. Should the situation continue to deteriorate until winter sets in, the UN administrator said he feared for the lives of many displaced people, particularly the young and elderly. "People will freeze to death, especially the more vulnerable groups," Arbodelo said. "(And then) there's the lack of adequate food. It seems almost surreal to have people dying of starvation in Europe...but they could."