Over 20,000 flee Macedonian fighting

Thousands of ethnic Albanians have fled to Turkey.

GENEVA, Switzerland -- Over 22,000 Macedonians have fled their homes in the week since fighting began between security forces and ethnic Albanian rebels.

The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said the number of people internally displaced within Macedonia and those who have left the country had doubled since Tuesday.

About 14,200 of the displaced people, who include both ethnic Albanians and Slavs, had moved to other parts of the republic, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees spokesman Ron Redmond said.

An estimated 3,600 Macedonians have gone to Turkey, 1,800 to Albania, 1,400 to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro), 1,200 to Kosovo and 300 to Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia, he added.

"The vast majority of those who left their homes did so as a precautionary measure -- usually citing concerns over the safety of their children -- and are staying with friends and relatives."

Most of the Macedonians arriving in Kosovo are coming via Albania, although at least 40 people arrived in the town of Prizren on Wednesday night after a 10-hour trek through the mountains, according to the Geneva-based UNCHR.

UNHCR officials are now monitoring the Morina border crossing between Albania and Kosovo round the clock, Redmond said.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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Macedonia Government
UNHCR

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