Aiming to reduce evidence of political failure, Yugoslav authorities sought to disperse the refugees in various parts of Serbia and prevent their concentration in the capital, Belgrade. The government encouraged the refugees to settle in predominantly Hungarian areas of Vojvodina, and in Kosovo, which was largely populated by Albanians, leading to increased instability in those regions. Even though 20,000 were planned to be settled in Kosovo, only 4,000 moved to the region. After 12 August, the Serbian authorities started to deport some of the refugees who were of military age, declaring them illegal immigrants. They were turned over to the VRS or the ARSK in eastern Croatia for conscription. Some of the conscripts were publicly humiliated and beaten for abandoning the RSK. In some areas, ethnic Croats of Vojvodina were evicted from their homes by the refugees themselves to claim new accommodations. Similarly, the refugees moving through Banja Luka forced Croats and Bosniaks out of their homes.