The Photographs 1: Kosovars 1998

Ferdiye and Dasori tell the tale of how Hayriye Hanim hid Besart under her skirt the whole way up the mountains as they left Rahovec, Kosovo at gun point. Later the conversation weers towards politics and the future of Kosovo. At that point Suriyete gets lost in tought while watching the snow fall outside. The Kindergarten/Collective refugee center, Kukes


"The children make any strange space home," says Hayriye Hanim as she sits with her new neighbours from the "kindergarten", a 2 story building that was converted into a refugee shelter a few months ago by aid agencies in Kukes, Albania.



Gani Romayi is a strong man, bright and positive. He says he has the fighter in him. A full supporter of KLA, he says under different conditions he would be fighting in Kosovo. But he is the oldest living male member of his family. So he has to stay and take care of the women and children. When asked about his home back in Kosovo and the rest of his family, he turns solemn and sad. He says he has no news of them. Last they were seen was in Gjakova, one of the heavily hit places by the Yugoslav army.


Drita is another aggressive supporter of the KLA. She likes being the center of attention. Her parents say she always was headstrong. But following the days long track over the mountains to Tropoje, and the immadiate transfer of the entire family to the refugee shelter in Kukes, her attitute towards strangers became a lot more open and insistent. Her hero is the unnamed KLA soldier who guided them through Kosovo. The hotel, Kukes.



Suriyete is barely a year old. But in her condition her first birthday is no celebration. If she doesn't get an operation soon on her fingers, she will stay disabled for the rest of her life. Suriyete was on schedule for an operation in Kosovo. But then the family's house was razed and all of what the Kuhala's have, been looted. Muskele Kuhala took her newborn daughter and with the rest of her family sought refuge in the mountains. They later found shelter as refugees in Bajram Curri. Now with no means to get Suriyete an operation they can only tell her story. Bajram Curri, Albania.



The Photographs 2: A full fledged war, Macedonia-Albania-Kosovo 1998-1999

RAMNO, Macedonia, March 21, 1999 -- Kosovar refugee families crossing the border into Macedonia are taken down to Skopje on tractors and Red Cross vehicles from the mountains bordering Kosovo. The group of families crossed the mountains in four days despite the snow:







BLACE, Macedonia April 5, '99 -- Blace border camp the day before it was emptied by the government:

BLACE, Macedonia April 6, '99 -- Relatives of a Kosovar refugee woman help get her out of the Macedonian police block surrounding camp Blace:


STANKOVITZ, Macedonia, Italian Field Hospital April 7, '99 -- Kosovar children receive tratment for cholera at a field hospital set up by the Italian Army at Stankovitz. Children were the most vulnerable to the unhygenic conditions at the Blace border camp:







KUKES, Albania -- Nylon sheeting provides temporary shelter for refugees in camps in Kukes:


KUKES, Albania -- Recent arrivees are still in shock from their experiences in Kosovo as they have been placed at the "Potato Warehouse", a refugee shelter.





KUKES, Albania -- Moving down South. As fighting escalates in Kosovo, refugee families are transferred to camps around Durres:




MORINA, Albania -- A refugee convoy crosses into Albania at Morina border crossing with news that their convoy has been bombed on the way. Mira's newborn baby sister was killed in the bombing, and moving under fire they had to leave the body in a shallow grave, hastily dug by the side of the road:


MORINA, Albania May 31, 1999 -- Kosovar men released from a prison in Peja are forced to march into Albanian territory by the Yugoslav army:






SKOPJE, Macedonia, March 23, '99 -- Kosovar refugee families wait to be registered at the main police station in Skopje, Macedonia:


KONDOVO, Macedonia, March 20, '99 -- An old Kosovar man waits to have his picture taken as is a Kosovar woman for refugee registration in Kondovo, a village outside of Skopje mostly populated by Albanians:


SKOPJE, Macedonia, March, '99 -- Aid distribution:




BLACE, Macedonia -- OSCE withdrawal from Kosovo:





The Photographs 3: Relocation, A Story

As the war progressed and the border refugee camps in Northern Albania became overcrowded, the UNHCR, in light of heavy bombing in Southern Kosovo and along the Kosovo-Albania border, decided to relocate some of the refugee families to camps further down South, near Durres. Sadi, and her two sons were one of the families to leave on the first convoy, escorted by NATO troops.