Kosovo refugees find new home in Russia

19 December, 2007, 00:24

The U.S. Department of State has once again expressed support for Martti Ahtisaari's plan to give Kosovo supervised independence. As Serbs living in the region held a mass rally in protest against independence for the region, some groups have found a new life away from the conflict zone in Russia’s southern Republic of Adygea.

They were born and raised in Kosovo but decided to return to the land of their forefathers and now the Tsey family live in a comfortable two-storey house in Mafekhabl, a small village in Adygea.

Nine years ago they fled the horrors of war and Russia was one of the few countries that gladly accepted the refugees.

Only the youngest Tsey child was born in Russia. The others are still getting used to some of the local traditions, but it doesn’t seem hard.

There are 22 other Kosovo Adyg families in this rural community.

The Kosovo Adygs are a predominantly Muslim ethnic group forcibly relocated from the North Caucasus to the Balkans in the 19th century.

Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin allowed several groups of Adygs to return, giving them new homes, work permits and refugee status.

Their language and traditions have not changed. They say they finally felt at home and it's the place where they would like to stay for the rest of their lives.

Imer Tsey says he misses his friends who still live in Kosovo. Some of them are Albanians, while others are Serbs. He explains that on a human level he had no misunderstandings with any of these people but the war changed his plans.

Now, nine years later, he believes the Kosovo problem is still far from being resolved.

“It's not only our problem – it's a problem for the whole world. The UN representatives, the Germans, the Italians, the French, the Russians – they still cannot find a solution to the Kosovo problem,” Imer Tsey says.

Even though they're now far away from the Balkans, the Kosovo Adygs still care about what's happening there. For those whose friends and relatives still live in Kosovo, peace in this region is the only concern.