FED: Albanians plead for govt to accept more refugees

AAP General News (Australia)
04-05-1999
FED: Albanians plead for govt to accept more refugees

SYDNEY, April 5 AAP - The Albanian community today pleaded for a massive increase in the
number of Kosovo refugees being allowed into Australia as thousands continued to flee the
Yugoslavian province.

Albanian community spokesman Sadik Binakaj told AAP the current 4,500 places set aside for
refugees from the former Yugoslavia would not be enough and urged the government to review the
intake.

"We are thankful....but the present number is not enough, I am sure that is not enough
because there is going to be at least one and a half million refugees from Kosovo," he told
AAP.

"Australia should accept more than that number (4,500).

"We think that it should be at least 20,000 Albanians accepted into Australia."

Immigration minister Phillip Ruddock said today the federal government was not considering
increasing the number of immigration places for Kosovar refugees but would be guided by the
United Nations High Commission of Refugees (UNHCR).

Mr Ruddock told Sky News that under a permanent entry program determined earlier this year,
4,500 of 10,000 refugee places were allocated to people from the former Yugoslavia.

But later the minister said the government would be guided by the UNHCR regarding refugees.

"(We) are working with UNHCR with a view to providing permanent places," he told SBS radio.

"We focus very much on the region of former Yugoslavia and we will be guided by the UNHCR
as to those...priorities, as who are the most appropriate people to be taking," he told SBS
Radio.

Hundreds of worried Albanian families in Australia were holding all-night vigils near the
radio and television in the hope of finding out what had happened to loved ones from Kosovo,
Mr Binakaj said.

He said his sister-in-law, who is pregnant with twins, and her four children had fled to
Montenegro and after almost two weeks, managed to contact his family in Sydney today.

"(But) her husband is missing, we know nothing that has happened to him," Mr Binakaj said.

Mr Binakaj, a former president of the Albanian community in NSW, is scheduled to fly out to
Albania later this week in a bid to help coordinate aid in refugee camps and hopes to contact
members of his own family.

"I am going to try with all my heart to help them," he said.

Mr Binakaj told AAP even if permanent places could not be guaranteed Australia should
accept refugees for two to three years to help ease the crisis.

He said members of the Albanian community would approach Mr Ruddock this week seeking an
increase in the number of refugee places for Kosovo refugees.

"I think we are going to approach the Minister for Immigration... to change his mind and
accept more refugees from Kosovo ... we are going to try maybe tomorrow to contact the
minister," Mr Binakaj said.

He said he did not expect any "problems" from the Serb community if more Albanians were
allowed into Australia.

He said the Albanian community had not contacted the Serb community since the Kosovo
crisis.

"No problem if more refugees...we are peaceful people; we don't want to have any problems,"
he said.

AAP sb/kr/br

KEYWORD: KOSOVO AUST ALBANIANS

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