Liberation of Kosovo: Reconstruction - One in every five refugees rejects return

THE HOUSE that Idriz Bajrami built in Kacemik is on the high ground to catch the breeze. The shell is still there, what's left after it was looted and burned by Serbs.

"I found out about this last week. Now we have nothing to go back to, nothing," he said with weary resignation outside a tent at Stenkovic 1 refugee camp in Macedonia, which has has home for him and his family for two months.

"When we were on our way here the Serbs robbed us. They took all the money I had, almost 3,000 Deutschmarks. Now what do we do? Who will provide for us?" He waved towards his wife, Majma, and four children huddled together in the semi-darkness of the tent. "I don't want to go back to Kosovo, there is nothing there for me. I want to go to another country, perhaps America, and start again."

What has happened to Mr Bajrami is a reality for thousands of Kosovar exiles. The euphoria of their homeland being liberated has begun to wear off. Now the question is: do they actually want to go back there?

Most have no choice. The Macedonians, unwilling hosts to the refugees, would kick them over the border tomorrow if they could. The chances of getting to a third country in the West is increasingly slim.

Nevertheless, according to aid workers, 20 per cent do not want to go back and 40 per cent are prepared to wait before they do so.

Gani Hyseni lost his home, his livelihood and members of his family, including his brother, to Serbian paramilitaries in Podujevo. "I had a little grocery shop. They took all my stock and then burnt the shop and our flat upstairs.

"We all say we want to go back. But our thinking is maybe it's time to start somewhere else. I do not want to go to a foreign country. It makes me feel sad," she said.

There is, indeed, a mood of melancholy in the camps now. Those who do want to go back are uncertain how and when it will be possible. In the meantime, surly Macedonian guards watch over them, and spotters for the Kosovo Liberation Army keep a close eye to ensure that the young men, their recruiting pool, do not drift away.