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UÇKHistory and Memory

24 March 1999 – 9 June 1999 · 1999

The mass expulsion of Albanians, March–June 1999

From late March to early June 1999 hundreds of thousands of Albanians were expelled or forced to flee Kosovo to Albania, Macedonia and Montenegro, through crossings such as Morinë and Blace.
Evidence status: Judicially established. Established in a final court judgment. It covers only what the court found, not every later interpretation.The 1998–1999 warDisplacementCrimes
A square crowded with people, tractors and vehicles, with the lake in the background
Kukës's main square during the exodus of Kosovars in 1999: people, tractors, trucks and tents along the edges of the square.Photo: Jonuz Kola · 1999 · CC BY-SA 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.

The ICTY found that the deliberate actions of VJ and MUP forces caused at least 700,000 Albanians to leave Kosovo, and that the NATO bombing and KLA activity were not the cause of this mass movement [1] [2].

According to UNHCR statistics reproduced by the OSCE and HRW, the number of refugees from Kosovo had reached 862,979 by 9 June 1999 (Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and the humanitarian evacuation programme). The OSCE estimates that over 90% of Kosovo Albanians — more than 1.45 million — had been displaced by 9 June, including about 590,000 displaced inside Kosovo according to a UNHCR estimate [3] [4].

Photographs

Long rows of white tents in a valley
A tent camp of Kosovars during the 1999 exodus.Photo: Jonuz Kola · 1999 · CC BY-SA 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Hundreds of tents pitched in rows on a flat plain
Hundreds of tents as the Camp Hope tent city is built near Fier, part of the US refugee-relief operation.Photo: Staff Sgt. Chris Steffen / U.S. Air Force · maj 1999 · Domen publik (vepër e qeverisë federale të SHBA)
A field crowded with people, plastic sheeting and smoke from fires, seen from a distance
Thousands of expelled people in the field at Blace on the Macedonian border, spring 1999. The photograph was used as an exhibit at the Hague Tribunal (ICTY).Photo: ICTY staff / ICTY (provë gjyqësore) · 1999 · Attribution
Two boys seen from behind, arms around each other, watching a helicopter in a field.
Two refugee children watch relief supplies being unloaded from US Navy MH-53E helicopters at Camp Hope near Fier, Albania, on 13 May 1999, during Operation Sustain Hope.Photo: Senior Airman Michelle Leonard, U.S. Air Force · 1999-05-13 · Domen publik (Public domain)
View from above of a mountain valley with a tent camp beside a river.
Refugee camp near Kukës, on the grounds of an old mine, in summer 1999 shortly after the end of the Kosovo war.Photo: Albinfo · 1999 · CC BY-SA 3.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Six boys stand together on a grassy field; tents and a blossoming tree in the background.
Group of children in a camp for Kosovar Albanian war refugees in Albania, 1999 (photo by Helmut Kienzle).Photo: Helmut Kienzle · 1999 · CC BY 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Line of people with bags beside a bus; behind them an aircraft marked Tower Air.
Kosovar refugees board a bus bound for Fort Dix after a Tower Air 747 carrying refugees landed at McGuire Air Force Base on 5 May 1999 (Operation Sustain Hope).Photo: U.S. Department of Defense (Defense Visual Information Center) · 1999-05-05 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Black-and-white annotated aerial photo showing a column of vehicles on a road between fields.
Aerial assessment photograph showing vehicle movement of internally displaced persons in the Malisevo area, used at a Pentagon press briefing on 19 April 1999.Photo: U.S. Department of Defense · 1999-04-19 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Black-and-white aerial view of a valley with vehicles and makeshift shelters along tracks; caption 'Internally displaced persons campsite, Central Kosovo'.
NATO aerial photograph of a campsite of internally displaced persons inside Kosovo, 1999.Photo: NATO · 1999 · Domen publik (Public domain)
A woman cooks over an open fire beside a red tractor; two men stand in front of a tarpaulin-covered lorry.
Refugees from Kosovo with tractors and lorries in Kukës during the 1999 exodus, photographed by Jonuz Kola.Photo: Jonuz Kola · 1999 · CC BY-SA 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Kofi Annan at microphones, surrounded by journalists, camera operators and officials.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Kukës during the 1999 Kosovo crisis, photographed by Jonuz Kola.Photo: Jonuz Kola · 1999 · CC BY-SA 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Military helicopter on the ground next to a blue-covered truck, mountains behind.
Swiss Air Force Super Puma helicopter in service for UNHCR in Kukës, summer 1999, shortly after the Kosovo War.Photo: Albinfo · 1999 · CC BY 3.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Women and children wash clothes and fetch water at an outdoor water point; buildings and hills behind.
Kosovar Albanian war refugees at a camp in Albania in 1999, photographed by Helmut Kienzle.Photo: Helmut Kienzle · 1999 · CC BY 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
Four children pose together; behind them laundry on a line and a wall.
Kosovar Albanian refugee children in Albania in 1999, photographed by Helmut Kienzle.Photo: Helmut Kienzle · 1999 · CC BY 4.0The identification of this image is not fully certain.
A US serviceman hands out sweets to smiling children; military tents behind.
Camp Hope, Albania, 1999; US Department of Defense photograph.Photo: US DOD · 1999 · Domen publik (Public domain)
A group of young people and women leaning over iMac computers; a woman in a grey jacket looks on.
US Health Secretary Donna Shalala among Kosovo refugees at Fort Dix as they search Albanian websites for family members at other refugee sites, 4 June 1999 (Operation Open Arms).Photo: U.S. Department of Defense (NARA, Record Group 330) · 1999-06-04 · Domen publik (Public domain)
Families with children stand by tables under a canopy where food is being handed out.
Arrival of Kosovo refugees at Bissierstraße in Freiburg on 16 April 1999; photograph by Marlis Decker, Staatsarchiv Freiburg.Photo: Marlis Decker · 1999-04-16 · CC BY 4.0
Five people seated at a conference podium before a blue backdrop with EU stars.
Press conference by European Commissioner Emma Bonino with Shkëlzen Maliqi, Vjosa Dobruna and Blerim Shala on the situation of the Kosovo refugees, 28 April 1999.Photo: Benoît Bourgeois · 1999-04-28 · CC BY 4.0
Black-and-white photograph: Clinton holds a child while other children reach towards him; tents behind.
President Clinton hugs Kosovar refugee children at the Stenkovec 1 refugee camp near Skopje, 22 June 1999; photograph by Ralph Alswang, White House Photograph Office.Photo: Ralph Alswang and White House Photograph Office · 1999-06-22 · Domen publik (Public domain)
A uniformed soldier sitting among smiling boys looking at a notepad.
US Marine Corps Capt. Robert A. Riggle plays tic-tac-toe with a group of Albanian boys at Camp Hope near Fier on 4 May 1999. The camp was built to house up to 20,000 refugees.Photo: Staff Sgt. Angela Stafford, U.S. Air Force · 1999-05-04 · Domen publik (Public domain)
How do we know this?

Sources

  1. [1]Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY). Judgement Summary for Milutinović et al.. 2009-02-26. IT-05-87-T. https://www.icty.org/x/cases/milutinovic/tjug/en/090226summary.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  2. [2]Tribunali Penal Ndërkombëtar për ish-Jugosllavinë (ICTY). Prosecutor v. Milutinović et al., Judgement, Vol. 3 of 4. 2009-02-26. IT-05-87-T. https://www.icty.org/x/cases/milutinovic/tjug/en/jud090226-e3of4.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  3. [3]OSBE — Zyra për Institucione Demokratike dhe të Drejta të Njeriut (ODIHR). Kosovo/Kosova: As Seen, As Told: An analysis of the human rights findings of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission, October 1998 to June 1999. 1999. https://www.osce.org/files/f/documents/d/d/17772.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  4. [4]Fred Abrahams, Benjamin Ward. Under Orders: War Crimes in Kosovo. 2001-10-26. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2001/kosovo/. Accessed 2026-09-16.
  5. [5]UNHCR (përmes ReliefWeb). UNHCR Kosovo Crisis Update, 10 June 1999. 1999-06-10. https://reliefweb.int/report/albania/unhcr-kosovo-crisis-update-10-june-1999. Accessed 2026-09-16.

Editorial status: Awaiting verificationDrafted from the cited sources; not yet fully reviewed by the editors.

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