Alisha Haridasani, CNN
Updated 0554 GMT (1354 HKT) September 19, 2015
Europe's migrant crisis: A Kosovan refugee remembers
In 1992, at the age of 16, he was on holiday in the United
Kingdom -- he had a cousin living there. Upon recognizing the
worsening situation in his homeland, Kosovo, he decided to claim
asylum in the UK.
At the time, Kosovo was caught up in a struggle for autonomy
within the former Yugoslavia. The conflict had its roots in
Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic's 1989 decision to eliminate the region's self-rule, bringing it under the
control of Belgrade.
Before Rama left the country, there were already signs of worse
things to come. Schools were shuttered and teachers -- like his
parents -- left jobless. Learning the Albanian language was
forbidden. Young boys, like himself, were being recruited by the
Serbian paramilitary and police "to go and fight against
Croats or Slovenians or Bosnians," he says. He chose not
to.
"It was safer for me as a 16 year old to be on my own in
Great Britain rather than be back home with my family."
http://edition.cnn.com/2015/09/19/europe/europe-migrants-kosovo-refugee-remembers/