ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 25, 1995                   TAG: 9511260013
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: S.D. HARRINGTON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


GREAT HOPES; GREATER DOUBT

BOSNIAN REFUGEES in Roanoke find it hard to believe that the fragile peace will last.

When the Kurtic family heard Tuesday that a Balkan peace agreement had been reached, in one sense they were joyous.

They hope the peace can last in their homeland, which they fled more than a year ago.

"They hope it will be peace forever," said Jimmy Spichek, interpreting for the family Friday in his Northwest Roanoke home.

But when asked if he believed the peace will last, Midhat Kurtic, a Muslim, shook his head and expounded in his native language.

"They don't trust their neighbors," Spichek explained, referring to Bosnian Serbs.

Kurtic interrupted Spichek's interpretation.

"The American Army is no good for Bosnia and Serbia," he said in English.

With Spichek interpreting, Kurtic explained that he believes American troops may be able to maintain peace temporarily, but the fighting will start again when the troops leave.

"It's hard to believe it's going to be everlasting peace," Kurtic said with Spichek's help.

Midhat and his wife, Munira, speak limited English. Their two sons, Haris, 10, and Firdes, 9, who are both attending Virginia Heights Elementary School, speak English very well.

Two blocks from Spichek's home, the Vugdalic family shares similar feelings.

"If it comes to peace there, it won't be the same peace as before," said Samir Vugdalic, 18, a student at William Fleming High School. "There is a lot of hate. It takes a lot of time to make peace again," he said.

Samir and his sister, Sanela, 14, interpreted for their parents Friday evening.

Sasa and Senija Vugdalic, who both work at Home Shopping Network in Salem, say it could be a long time before there is true peace.

"Maybe not for 10, 20 years," Senija Vugdalic said. It could take that long "before you can feel safe."

Many of their family members are living as refugees elsewhere. Senija Vugdalic's parents are living in Croatia.

The Kurtics have family members who remain in Bosnia.

Midhat Kurtic's father is living in Sarajevo with his sister and her husband. Another sister was killed during the war. One sister is living in Roanoke.

Midhat Kurtic spoke to his father recently by telephone.

However, he hasn't heard from his mother in four to five years. He says she was sent to a refugee camp in Gorazde.

"He doesn't know if his mother is alive," Spichek said.

Midhat Kurtic has completed paperwork for his father and mother to come to the United States as refugees. But he says he has had a difficult time completing the process, particularly on the other end.

Spichek and Midhat Kurtic disagreed somewhat over the promise of peace for the former Yugoslavia.

Spichek, whose parents are Croatian, believes the U.N. peacekeepers will pose enough threat to contain another outbreak.

Spichek has helped most of the refugees in Roanoke - about 16 families. Four of the families are Bosnian Serbs. The rest are Muslim or Bosnian Croats, Spichek said.

But the Vugdalics say the hatred Bosnian Serbs and Muslims have for each other in Bosnia has not been a problem for the estimated 80 Bosnian refugees living in Roanoke.

Samir Vugdalic said there are two types of people in Bosnia: people who want to live in peace, and people who would rather fight. Those who have left the country, whether Bosnian Serb, Muslim or Bosnian Croat, are those who want to live in peace, he said.

Nearly 12 Bosnian families reside in the apartment complex where the Vugdalics live.

Refugees are allowed to remain in the country even during peace time, said Barbara Smith, director of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond's Refugee and Immigration Services office in Roanoke.

"Once you have been given refugee status, that is a permanent status," Smith said, as long as that person lives within the law.

Many of the Bosnian refugees have applied for residency, Smith said. And after living in the country for five years, they will be able to apply for citizenship.

Midhat Kurtic, who works as a crane operator at Cycle Systems Inc., has applied for his green card.

He does not plan to move his family back to Bosnia, but he will probably go back to visit.

The Vugdalics plan to visit as well, but also have no intentions of moving back. They are happy here, they said, and they remain skeptical that the peace in Bosnia will be the same peace they experienced before the fighting broke out.

"We know it's only paper," Samir Vugdalic said of the peace agreement.



 by CNB