Sanije joins long queue to leave Albania for US

"I just want a big hug. I need a bit of love and really want to be with the rest of my family."

"I just want a big hug. I need a bit of love and really want to be with the rest of my family."

Sanije is a young Kosovan woman from Mitrovica in northern Kosovo. She's hoping that with her sister and parents she can leave Albania to join her other brothers and sisters who live in San Jose, California. But this is her second day in a slow-moving queue outside the UNHCR offices in Tirana, where she has to register her family for the UNHCR's family reunification programme, and she's not optimistic about her chances of getting out. "I went to the US embassy and they said `no way, you don't have a chance', then they said I could try here. I'll do whatever I can to get out of here." Although the Albanian that Sanije's family are staying with is very kind to them, she says "my parents are quite old and exhausted and we would like to get to America so our own family can take care of us."

Although the majority of Kosovans who are now in Albania - estimates are rising towards 350,000 - have no choice but to stay in refugee camps, collective centres and Albanian homes, there are growing numbers doing whatever they can to get to relatives abroad. Huge numbers of Kosovans, like the Irish of previous generations, work abroad supporting families at home.

Hashn Kurti (66) and his daughter, Leonora, are also in the UNHCR queue for the third day. He's trying to get his family to Holland to join his three other sons who live in Maastricht. For the last 10 days, they have been living in Tirana's sports hall, now ironically titled "Sports Palace". Whether any of the minority of Kosovans with family members living abroad get reunited with them is ultimately up to those foreign countries. After the UNHCR has registered a refugee, it submits a report verifying their status to the embassy in question.

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Other than by this means, Kosovan refugees can apply to foreign embassies directly and have their cases examined under their normal refugee policies, which can take many months. Some countries such as Canada, Germany, Norway and Sweden have stated they will expedite procedures and give special priority to medical cases and those people in need of special protection, victims of rape for example. By contrast, Albania is remaining firm on its strict policy of no temporary or permanent resettlement of refugees.

Although it will not stop refugees leaving, it is not seeking evacuations, as Macedonia did. Nicolas Morris, the UNHCR's special envoy to the Former Yugoslavia says: "We are currently in negotiations with the Albanian government about this. Our policy is that there should be some allowance for what's called `temporary humanitarian evacuation'. Whilst we can understand why they do not want to allow for permanent resettlement, we would like to see relaxation of their position on temporary resettlement." Meanwhile, anger is rising among those trying to leave, especially among Kosovans from Europe who have arrived in Albania hoping to take families back home with them.

The International Organisation for Migration, which is now working in Albania, predicted last week that within a fortnight existing trafficking networks for illegal immigration into Italy and onwards would become highly active. To date the Albanian government has had little success in tackling the Albania mafia.

A fortnight ago, Albanian news reported that police moved in on traffickers in the port of Vlore and confiscated a number of high-speed boats which are used for transportation. However, within hours the mafia had held the local police chief hostage and the boats were handed back.