A Kosovo refugee family finds the language tough
but the kindness overwhelming.

S ett i

HARRY KI RS BAU M
Staff Writer

T

Above: The Fazliu family, from left, are
Leutrine, 8; mother Xhevahire; Leuart, 11;
Valdrin, 5; and father Avdullah.

Facing page: Kosovar refugees Leuart, left, and
Leutrine Fazliu are shown with Sen. Carl
Levin and Rep. Sander Levin.

7130
1999

Detroit Jewish News

hree oversized, worn
couches and a large easy
chair line the living room
walls of Avdullah Fazliu's
sparsely furnished apartment. To
some they would appear to over-
whelm the room, but to him they
represent the kindness of strangers.
It's been months since a Serbian
paramilitary soldier struck Avdullah in
the face with a rifle butt in front of his
wife and three children during the
Kosovo War. His eye is still swollen
shut. His wife's family fled to Albania
during the war, while his parents chose
to stay in Kosovo. The family of five
made a treacherous two-week trip to
safety in a Macedonian refugee camp.
When they boarded the first
Kosovo refugee flight from
Macedonia, they received a kind of
celebrity status when Hillary Rodham
Clinton greeted them in Fort Dix,
N.J., as they stepped off the plane.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin and U.S. Rep.
Sander Levin of Michigan met with
them and other refugee families at the
Jewish Family Service agency in June,
soon after they got to Detroit.
Now the politicians have gone
away, and the real work has begun.
Rachel Yoskowitz, JFS director of
citizenship and immigration services,
said the federal government provided
some assistance to the refugees, while
the JFS and three other faith-based
volunteer agencies have combined to
organize the local resettlement.
The JFS was assigned the Fazliu

Harry Kirsbaum can be reached at
(248) 354-6060, ext. 244, or by e-mail
at hkirsbaum@thejewishnews.com .