Yurope: Bahus War Diary

Bahus War Diary - A personal view

Albanians on the moon (and other stories)

Remember what happened to the Muslim Refugees from Bosnia? Remember who was the most vocal in insisting that the refugees should get to safety and await the time when they will be able to return to their homes? England and America. And remember who accepted the smallest number of those refugees? England and America. The bulk went to Germany and a significant number is still there. Remember how countries much smaller than United States, such as Norway, accepted more refugees than the US?

Well, here we go again. Again England and America are screaming "we've got to help the (Albanian) refugees." And guess who is going to accept most of them? Germany again. And poor countries, such as Macedonia. Macedonia has been criticized for being reluctant to accept more refugees. To show them who is the moral leader in the world, the US have announced to accept a number of Albanian refugees. But not a single one of them will reach the American soil. They will be stationed (if they accept this offer at all) at the bases in Guam and at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba.

This means that the Albanians will be in a camp. They will have food and shelter, but it will be a far cry from their previous situation, when they had freedom to leave and travel and they were living in their own houses. Macedonia does not have islands as part of its territory. But the US does and is not afraid to use them. True, the Haitians were not too happy at Guantanamo, but that came later. What counts was the initial impression that the US is helping the poor boat-people who were fleeing the violence in their own country. How the Albanians found out about the Haitian's misgivings is a mystery, but they so far refused to be resettled in such faraway places.

I don't write Science Fiction but I can imagine a story that in the year 2525 or so an expedition to the by than forgotten Moon discovers a colony of Albanians, who were sent there by the US to await the time when they can come back to their homes. And, as is usually the case, they were soon forgotten and left to their own devices.