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For many refugees, saying goodbye and starting over is hard to do  ALSO: NATO divided on use of ground troops in Kosovo  MESSAGE BOARD: Crisis in Kosovo RELATED VIDEO CNN's Frank Buckley visit's Fort Dix Windows Media 28K 80K

May 21, 1999
Web posted at: 12:50 p.m. EDT (1650 GMT)

In this story: Dad wants school for children, job for himself Refugees homesick for Kosovo 'How many times do I have to say goodbye?' RELATED STORIES, SITES

FORT DIX, New Jersey (CNN) -- Some Kosovar refugees are beginning a new phase of their exodus, leaving a New Jersey military base to resettle in communities across the United States.

Federal officials say some of the 3,000 Kosovars who arrived at Fort Dix this month will be leaving almost daily after they complete medical exams, immigration interviews and instruction in U.S. culture.

Eighteen refugees from three families said tearful goodbyes there Thursday, traveling to Washington state, Florida, Idaho and California.

Seven members of the Korqas family arrived later in the day in Seattle. Their journey began when Serbian police forced them from their home in Gjilan, about 40 miles from the Kosovo capital, Pristina.

"I thank the American government that took the initiative to save us from the bloody hands of the Serb regime, to save my family and children," Xhavit Korqa, the father, said through an interpreter.

This Ethnic Albanian girl's worries are temporarily abandoned as she enjoys her ice cream at Fort Dix

The Korqas walked for two days through the mountains before reaching Macedonia, where they waited for a week at the border. The family spent a month at a border camp in Macedonia, then two weeks at Fort Dix before heading for Seattle.

Korqa came with his wife and children, three girls and two boys, ages 6 to 16. World Relief, the refugee resettlement arm of the National Association of Evangelicals, is sponsoring the family in Seattle.

Dad wants school for children, job for himself

The first thing Korqa said he wants his children to do is to go to school and learn English. The first thing the 45-year-old mechanic and bus driver wants to do is find work.

"It's very encouraging," said host family member Bruce Kennedy, after the Korqas sat through a news conference. "This means they won't have time on their hands as they have had for the last few months."

Korqa and his family have full refugee status, which gives them their right to seek permanent residence in the United States and eventually apply for green cards.

Refugees at Fort Dix get used to a new life in America

But Korqa said they hoped to return home "as soon as peace returns to Kosovo."

Refugees homesick for Kosovo

Many refugees share the same dream. "I think the overwhelming number of this population wishes to go home," said Henry Brattlie of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

In the meantime, said Lavinia Lamon of the U.S. Health and Human Services Department, "We have faith the American people will embrace them and give them what they need while they're here."

The United States has agreed to accept up to 20,000 refugees.

A tearful Mirsade Bejiqi said goodbye Thursday at Fort Dix. The 20-year-old college student had arrived with her parents and three brothers with the first planeload of refugees on May 5. Thursday the family headed to Boise, Idaho.

'How many times do I have to say goodbye?'

"I don't know what to say. I'm too sad," Bejiqi sobbed. "How many times do I have to say goodbye to my friends?"

Arlinda Gashi, 19, stood behind a fence and cried as she watched her friend talk to reporters. They exchanged a tearful farewell before Bejiqi boarded a bus for Newark International Airport.

In Los Angeles, 28 ethnic Albanian refugees -- all members of the Vlashi family -- arrived to stay with host families. They were greeted by Hajrush Vlashi and his wife, Renee. The couple worked with the Jewish Federation to bring family members to the United States from Macedonia.

"I'm in shock," Mrs. Vlashi said by telephone from Los Angeles International Airport. "They were very, very happy to see my husband."

The refugees will receive one month of cash assistance, which averages about $300 a person, and three months of services. The hosts have been asked to house families for as long as two weeks.

Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Albanians have fled during the past two months to neighboring countries from Kosovo, a province in Serbia, the main state in the Yugoslavian federation.

NATO launched airstrikes against Yugoslavia on March 24 after President Slobodan Milosevic rejected a plan to end the fighting with the rebel Kosovo Liberation Army.

Correspondent Frank Buckley and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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