ASSESSMENT OF HUMANITARIAN SITUATION IN BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA (W/ATTACHMENTS)

Created: 9/9/1992

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

Assessment of Humanitarian Situation in Bosnia and Hercegovina

The Current Huabera

The number of people that have been displaced by the crisis isillion people (see

-- Bosnia and Hercegovina haaisplaced

people plus anhat UNHCR assesses to be in"

Prospects for Delivering Sufficient Aid This Winter Look Bleak...

The prospects for meeting Bosnia and Hercegovina's winter food needs are not very good.

UNHCR assesses that Bosnia and Hercegovina will need moreetric tons between2 andr0 tons per month. August deliveries by UNHCR and ICRC, which were up from July, met only about one-third of this monthly need (see

Furthermore, roughlyercent of the August deliveries arrived via the airlift.

If/when the airlift resumes, it will likely be less effective than it was during the summer.

-- The UN logistics officer in Zagreb confirmed that bad

weather in Sarajevo isactor and anticipatesairport may only be open for four hours per day

can only mate at

Sarajevo.

Italy, which contributed aboutercent of the airlift flightseptember, ia not likely to participate in the airlift at leaetull investigation of the crash is completed (see

APPROVED FDR RELEASE DATE:2

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ut, UNHCR is Attempting to Respond

The UNHCR land-convoy planning teain, which waa established last month to help the UN increase its land-based relief efforts, returned from ex-Yugoslavia and iseport to be submitted oneptember. One member of the team providedpreliminary judgments:

UNHCR will need an additionalton trucks (or equivalent capacity in smaller trucks} andon trucks for more difficult terrain.

Opening of the Split-Ploce-Mostar-Sarajevo route would enable UNHCR to carry substantial amounts of relief supplies, assuming that security conditions permit.

The team will likely recommend armed escorts on some supply routes. It notes, however, that not all supply routes will require escorts.

Also, UNHCR was preparing to preposition seven days worth of relief supplies in key locations throughout Bosnia and Hercegovina--but primarily in Sarajevo--to be used when bad weather precludes convoy movement. Discontinuance of the airlift, however, will preclude this effort. The teamtock pile0 metric tone, enough to feedeopleeek.

Meanwhile...

Conditions in Sarajevo are deteriorating.

-- arajevo hospital official was quoted asase of typhus andimes the normal cases of water-borne illness in the Bosnian capital, according to State Department reporting.

The water system la contaminated in large measure

because* the electrical system needed to power the pumps and filtration systems has been damaged, and efforts to repair the Byatem have been hindered by mines and sniper fire. UN public health officials, however, have assessed the problem and havelan of action to correct it. Some of the effort wae begun over the weekend.

Relief efforts continue to fall well short of even minimum food needs in other Bosnian cities.

Less thanercent of food needs in Banja Luka, Bihac, Gorazde, Mostar, Tuzla, and Zenlca havemet aseptember (see

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Original document.

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