Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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<strong>Psychosocial</strong> <strong>Notebook</strong>, Volume 2, October 2001<br />
It was this same motive and determination that moved her to cross the border<br />
between Kosovo and Albania on 15 June 1999, at a time when, on the<br />
opposite side, refugees were beginning a massive return to Kosovo. In<br />
Vjoca’s words:<br />
I went there because I’ve always loved [desired] to visit Albania. I was<br />
in Durrës. I’ve always dreamed of studying in Albania, but this dream of<br />
mine never came true, because I was engaged when I was in the 8th class<br />
of elementary school (at 14 years old). It was the will of my father [...]<br />
my parents were old people, they didn’t know that much, we didn’t talk<br />
about school. My cousin was an educated person, he used to read books<br />
that were prohibited by the Serbs, and he gave me those books. We were<br />
not free, [the] Serbs didn’t allow us to read the books that were written<br />
and published in Albania.<br />
At the age of 14, Vjoca was already trying to escape the constraints<br />
imposed by the political context. She dreamed of going to Albania, which<br />
she equated with a sort of freedom, but her father had forbidden her to<br />
leave. During the war, Vjoca was displaced within Kosovo, but she still<br />
felt prevented from crossing the border on account of her son. It was only<br />
after years of waiting that she finally reached Albania, and then, only<br />
because of her brother. In her words:<br />
We have been here [in Kosovo] all the time during the war. We could<br />
have gone to Montenegro but I [would have] had to leave my son here,<br />
my son was a KLA [Kosovo Liberation Army] soldier for 13 months.<br />
When they forced us to leave our home, we went to [a village]. From<br />
[Date]… to 2 May in [19...]. My husband lost five family members. Five<br />
men from my family were jailed in the prison of Smrekovnica. My brother<br />
was badly beaten; his body full of bruises was shown in many TV<br />
[programmes]… Three of my brothers joined KLA… Then I heard that<br />
my brother [had been] deported to Albania. When KFOR [military forces<br />
of NATO and non-NATO countries in Kosovo] came in, I asked my<br />
husband to go and try to find him. We knew that he [had been] badly<br />
beaten. My brother was [then] in Durrës… He was there with his friends<br />
that were also jailed. He went to Durrës to heal his wounds. That’s why<br />
I went there (to Albania).<br />
Vjoca therefore went to Albania because of the war, but not as a refugee.<br />
She felt as if she “had” to stay in Kosovo, to support her son who was in<br />
the KLA. She had hidden her desire to see Albania until she could combine<br />
it with her justifiable need to see her brother. Only then could she go<br />
to Albania, this “forbidden” country. As soon as she crossed the border,<br />
however, her feelings reversed, and she suddenly wished to return to<br />
Kosovo:<br />
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