1,500 Albanian Refugees Leave Italy for Home
At least 1,500 Albanians sailed for home after frustrating days without food or shelter in Italy.
About 18,000 Albanian refugees remained, hoping to avoid being deported. Police in this port city broke up several scuffles among men crowded on the docks, where many refugees slept in the rain over the weekend.
A man who described himself as a leader of those returning said: “We did not find freedom and a friendly welcome, but the police on our arrival. We have been left without food for days.”
Italy has seized ships carrying later asylum-seekers and sent its navy to block others from Communist Albania.
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