by Toplica | Nov 5, 2021 | Culture, English, Events, Imigration, News
In a clip broadcast by a Swedish Television news programme on 17 May 1999, 13-year-old Petrit Halilaj gave his first matter-of-fact account of how Serbian police and special forces killed 152 people in a Kosovan village not far from his hometown. Now known as the...
by Toplica | May 28, 2021 | English, Featured, News
If there is someone who knows about hard work and determination, it’s 2nd Lt. Valdeta Mehanja, a pilot with the 1-131st Aviation Regiment. Mehanja is an Albanian native born in Kosovo and a U.S. citizen; she never thought she would get to see Albania. “I...
by Toplica | Aug 24, 2019 | Culture, English, Featured, Imigration, News
Dritan Kastrati has an extraordinary story to tell. As an 11-year-old Kosovan-Albanian refugee, he was entrusted by his father to people smugglers to make his way by boat, train, and lorry across Europe. We know he survived because he and Nicola McCartney have...
by Toplica | Aug 8, 2019 | Community, English, Featured, Photos
JOY at being able to return home was mixed with tears at leaving friends behind in South Cumbria as a group of refugees began their long journey back to former battle zone 20 years ago. The Mail, on August 18 in 1999, noted: “Tearful Kosovar refugees bade an...
by Toplica | Oct 13, 2018 | Community, English, Featured, Imigration, News
He fled from Kosovo as a teenager after his family were persecuted and murdered in the war. But Baton Berisha found a new home in London’s restaurant scene and is now the man behind the burgeoning success of The Ivy Collection – set to open it’s 32nd location in...
