The Danish Refugee Council (DRC) - a major humanitarian organization - announced on Wednesday that it will close aid programs in six countries, including Kosovo, after the United States cut off its funding.
The US is the second largest donor to the DRC, which also announced it would cut another 650 jobs.
The DRC, which provides aid to refugees and those displaced by conflict and natural disasters, said the reduction in US aid would lead to "countless suffering and death."
"The scale of the current funding crisis requires the DRC to adapt, renew and prepare for a world where US aid will never return," the Danish group said in a statement.
"The loss of our second largest funding partner means a reduction in our global presence; above all, it is a blow to millions of people displaced by conflict, disaster and climate change," the group stressed.
About 20 percent of the DRC's budget came from the US.
Other countries where DRC is completing programs besides Kosovo are Burundi, the Central African Republic, Georgia, Mexico, and Tanzania.
The DRC will remain present in 28 other countries.
Danish Refugee Council in Kosovo
The Danish Refugee Council has been operating continuously in Kosovo since 1998, according to the council's website.
Since 2003, the DRC has increasingly focused on minority returns in Kosovo, a programmatic priority.
It has also worked to create a sustainable and long-term return process in Kosovo, aiming not only at the physical needs of returning refugees and displaced persons, but also at reintegration and social and economic development, improving living conditions, facilities and opportunities for both host and returning communities, security and interethnic dialogue, according to its website.
Since 2003, the DRC has returned 778 families with a total of 2,945 individuals to Kosovo./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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