YUGOSLAVIA: KOSOVO: FAMILY RETURN HOME

(17 Jun 1999) Eng/Albanian/Nat Refugees have begun leaving refugee camps and returning to their homes in Kosovo, despite pleas from NATO to remain in the camps until the province is cleared of mines and booby traps. Many have found their homes and businesses ransacked, looted or burned to the ground. For this extended family of refugees the desire to return home to Kosovo is too strong to ignore. On Thursday the Gashi and Krajijiqi families began packing what little they had managed to take with them when they were forced to leave their village with 3 hours notice, by Serb forces at the end of March. Preparations were made for the long journey they faced to reach their home village of Brezne. Waving goodbye to the friends they had made after two and a half months living in the United Arab Emirates refugee camp in Kukes, Albania, they boarded their tractor trailer -adults in the front and children in the back. They could hardly believed they were finally going home. SOUNDBITE: (Albanian) "We were thinking it was going to be a long time before we would be able to get back. But this day is come very soon." SUPER CAPTION: Shazije Krajijiqi, Kosovo refugee Signs at the border crossing at Morini warned ominously of the danger of mines and booby traps. But this family were prepared to take the risk. After six hours they reached Brezne, and the families walked slowly to the house the Gashi family had left behind. They found the building badly damaged on the outside, and ransacked inside. For some family members the shock was too hard to bear. As they moved from empty room to empty room, one family member warned of the danger of booby traps. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I have to be careful because we don't know if there are mines or booby traps. SUPER CAPTION: Zahade Krajijiqi This will be a familiar sight in days to come, when Kosovo refugees begin flowing over the borders from Albania and Macedonia. It is estimated that around 13-thousand people had crossed into Kosovo from Morini, Albania by early Thursday evening. Many will find nothing left as retreating Serb forces torch and plunder homes, and most will have to face the difficult task of rebuilding their devastated lives. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...