Aid for Kosovo Refugees Needed
(WTNH) _ With tens of thousands of refugees fleeing Kosovo, there is a great need for humanitarian aid in Macedonia, Albania, and Montenegro. Groups across the US and Connecticut are pitching in and lending a helping a hand in the troubled region.
News Channel 8's Judy Chong has details.

Tens of thousands of ethnic Albanians are fleeing to bordering countries to escape Serbian brutality. The images are agonizing to watch.

Dr. Mirvet Muca, Ph.D., Albanian American: "My wife, my daughter, and my son were crying yesterday. It's suffering beyond human imagination."

Dr. Mirvet Muca is an Albanian American and professor at Naugatuck Community College.

Judy: "For you to sit here..."
Muca: "I can't do anything, I feel helpless."

So he's in the process of setting up a fund along with the Albanian Cultural Center in Waterbury to raise money in Connecticut to help the refugees.

Muca: "It's important because you're saving lives. what can be more sacred than saving human lives."

AmeriCares, based in New Canaan, is also helping. 90,000 tons of food and medical supplies are being shipped to relieve the suffering of so many political refugees.

Andrew Hannah, AmeriCares: "What you'll see in the coming days is a rapid deterioration of health. So far today they are in relatively good shape. But it'll worsen as this goes on."

There is a special tie between Connecticut and the Balkan region. About 6,000 native Albanians live in the Waterbury area. Many of them went to protest outside the UN in New York today calling for ground troops to put a quick end to the crisis. According to AmeriCares, more than 155,000 people have fled Kosovo.

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