Posted on 07/05/2002 1:54:23 PM PDT by joan
AN ALBANIAN boy aged 14 - forced to flee his country after gangsters killed his family - has arrived on his own in Huddersfield.
Nikoll Gjoka's tortuous journey to the UK was forced on him after his family were brutally killed.
In November last year, his father, mother and elder sister were murdered in their own home by members of the Albanian mafia.
Their crime? Nikoll's father had been a good policeman.
Pam Bye, Nikoll's legal guardian and director of Kirklees Refugees and Friends Together (Kraft), said: "In a country wormed with corruption, from the government down, his father had been incorruptible.
"In Albania, if one member of a family steps out of line, the whole family pay the penalty."
"His father was an undercover policeman and his work involved investigating other police officers. But Nikoll was not told much about it."
Nikoll has recalled how one day he was told to miss school and live with his uncle for a few days.
But, when the days turned into weeks, he challenged his uncle.
It was then he learned his family had been murdered and their bodies buried.
His uncle knew Nikoll would not be safe with him, so he was taken to an orphanage in his home town of Puke around Christmas.
There are now fears that Nikoll's uncle may have met the same fate as the rest of his family, for helping his nephew to escape.
Teachers looked after Nikoll until, towards the end of March, they decided it was not safe for him to stay.
Nikoll remembers travelling across mountains to the port of Durres with his teacher.
They boarded a ferry, where his teacher helped him stow away in the back of a lorry.
The youngster, now alone, hid in darkness among packing cases and had to endure a three-and-a-half-day journey without food or water.
On April 9, starving and dehydrated, he made a run for it when the lorry stopped and he ran towards the nearest bright lights.
He was in Huddersfield.
This is the way the KLA has operated in Kosovo. Albanians who worked for the Yugoslav government in any capacity were killed as traitors, but particulary Albanian policeman who were loyal to Yugoslavia were targeted, as were/are their families.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.