MACEDONIA/ALBANIA: ETHNIC REFUGEES IN THE CAMPS OF MACEDONIA AND ALBANIA ARE GLAD THE CONFLICT IN KOSOVO IS OVER, BUT REMAIN SCEPTICAL ABOUT YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S DEAL

Record ID: 274827

  • Title: MACEDONIA/ALBANIA: ETHNIC REFUGEES IN THE CAMPS OF MACEDONIA AND ALBANIA ARE GLAD THE CONFLICT IN KOSOVO IS OVER, BUT REMAIN SCEPTICAL ABOUT YUGOSLAV PRESIDENT SOBODAN MILOSEVIC'S DEAL
  • Date: 10th June 1999
  • Summary: STENKOVAC REFUGEE CAMP, ALBANIA, JUNE 10, 1999 (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. LV/SLV/SV REFUGEES IN CAMP (8 SHOTS) 0.45 2. MCU (Albanian) UNIDENTIFIED MAN SAYING: "I don't know if we will get to go back - maybe we will go home soon" 0.50 3. SV (Albanian) UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN SAYING: "I just want to go back as soon as possible - I'm not going to stay
  • Embargoed: 25th June 1999 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: STENKOVAC REFUGEE CAMP, MACEDONIA/ KUKES, ALBANIA
  • City:
  • Country: Macedonia Albania
  • Reuters ID: LVA61HX0KDQJYX40HQWIVSJ3W2RZ
  • Story Text: Ethnic Albanian refugees in the camps of Macedonia and
    Albania are in general glad the conflict in Kosovo is over-
    but they are also sceptical that Yuogoslav President Slobodan
    Milosevic will honour his side of the bargain.

    Refugees at the sprawling Stenkovac camp in Macedonia
    on Thursday (June 10) welcomed the peace deal and were looking
    forward to going home.However, many expressed caution and
    warned against trusting Slobodan Milosevic.

    And, in Albania, for Rahman Couanaj and his wife Miradie
    the waiting is almost over.

    Rahman and Miradie and their two young children were thrown
    out of the town of Prizren in early April.Now that the
    Yugoslav government has signed up to a deal which allows NATO
    forces into Kosovo and paves the way for the return of
    refugees, Rahman and Miradie just want to go back home.

    "Part of me is optimistic now that a deal has been
    signed.But a lot of agreements have been signed over Kosovo
    by Milosevic.With the international community supporting us,
    I feel more optimistic than before, although we have to wait
    and see how it works in practice", said 35-year-old Rahman, a
    Pharmacist from Prizren.

    His wife Miradie, trying to hold back tears, said all
    Kosovo Serbs will have to leave the province.

    "As Albanians we have suffered so much at the hands of the
    Serbs", said Miradie.

    The couple have two children aged five and seven.

    But the eventual repatriation of the Kosovo Albanian
    refugees from camps in northern Albania will take time and
    poses a mammoth task for NATO and the UN aid agencies.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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