Kosovar refugees in Vegas content to stay, group says

Wednesday, July 28, 1999 | 10:17 a.m.

The handful of Kosovar refugees who arrived in Las Vegas shortly before the end of fighting in their homeland have shown no interest in returning, says the head of the immigration services for Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada.

"We will have a meeting with them in the near future and explain their options to them," Redda Mehari, director of Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services, said this morning.

Mehari said the United Nations is not in a hurry for the refugees to return because it is not yet safe and the government needs time to develop a plan for their return.

However, many of the more than 10,000 refugees who came to the United States appear in a hurry to return home and are calling in droves about a State Department program offering to fly them back for free.

More than 100 calls a day have been coming in to a toll-free number -- (800) 748-4521 -- that was set up to answer questions about the program, which was announced two weeks ago.

The group has already processed applications from 748 families to return. At an average of five members for each family, that would account for more than a third of the refugees in the U.S., although many families had eight or nine members, said Lauren Engle, a spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration, which is managing the return under contract to the State Department.

The first return chartered flight, with 289 people aboard, left New York Monday. After landing in Skopje, the Macedonian capital, the refugees went by bus to Pristina, Kosovo. Most are expected to stay in Pristina, the provincial capital, but some are to be sent to home towns in other areas.

The refugees have until May 2000 to decide if they want to stay in America or return. Mehari said the government will pay for their return up till that time. If they decide to leave after that, they must pay their own way.

In addition, refugees who return by next May will not have to pay back the cost of the trip to the U.S., an average of $3,000.

Mehari said the Kosovars who came here have had no problems in adapting to Las Vegas.

"We are inching toward getting them jobs and so on," he said.

The New York Times News Service

contributed to this report.