14 Ethnic Albanians Begin New Lives in O.C.

Fourteen ethnic Albanians who will be taken in by Orange County’s Muslim community arrived Monday, the first of about 50 refugees from Kosovo seeking asylum here.

The American Relief for Albanians in Los Angeles coordinated with the Islamic Society of Orange County in Garden Grove to find housing for three families that landed at Los Angeles International Airport from Macedonia by way of New York.

Looking weary and rumpled, the travelers walked off the plane shortly after 4:30 p.m., clutching plastic bags that held their scant belongings, including shoes and a spare blanket. They exchanged hugs with Bekim Hasani, president of the relief group, and listened politely to a welcome from Haitham Bundakji, vice chairman of the Islamic Society of Orange County.

“We will do our best to give you the most comfortable stay,” Bundakji said in English as Hasani translated to Albanian. “You came to a new family here. Please consider us your extended family.”

Among Monday’s arrivals was Bajram Jula, 47, who exited the plane unshaven and looking exhausted. Wearing a threadbare turquoise shirt, he stayed close to his wife, Miriman, their daughter and two sons as they navigated the crowded airport corridors.

Through a translator, Jula expressed deep gratitude for the hospitality after weeks of living on the run, never knowing where the family would sleep or when they would eat.

“I know at least that I’m free here and no one is over my head,” he said.

Although the family lost home and belongings, they are alive and healthy, he said. Most refugees have a friend or relative who did not manage to escape, and they are haunted by stories of executions, rapes and torture.

Jula said his brother was shot by Serbs outside his Kosovo home in early April when he refused to evacuate and leave behind his wife, a paraplegic. Jula heard later that his sister-in-law had starved to death.

A former cement factory worker, Jula said he will seek work here but hopes eventually to go home. For now, he said, he wants the children to go to school and the family to regain its emotional health.

“I’m happy that we made it,” he said. “We are starting over from scratch.”

Indeed, the 14 refugees who arrived Monday had among them only two duffel bags of possessions.

The families will be moved this week to a homeless shelter Bundakji bought three years ago in Garden Grove. The ranch-style house, which has 13 bedrooms and is now vacant, is being prepared for the refugees, furnished with bunk beds, supplied with donated clothing and stocked with basics such as toothbrushes, soap and toilet paper.

“They may have a very hard time adjusting,” Mohammed Khan of the relief group said of the newcomers and 34 more refugees expected in Orange County in the next few weeks. “Some of these people come from very small villages where they haven’t even seen a stoplight.”