By Kastriot Dervishi
Memorie.al/The attitude of Enver Hoxha’s communist regime towards Kosovo Albanians who immigrated for political reasons to Albania was anti-national. Not only due to the fact that the regime was anti-national and proletarian internationalist, but these actions accompanied by endless disloyalty.
The very high number of Kosovo Albanians who came to Albania to escape the Serbian genocide and who were imprisoned and exiled by Enver Hoxha’s regime is known.
But, that’s all; many others surrendered to UDB with the greatest calmness. Today, I bring a part of the meeting dated 18.4.1984 of the secretaries of the Central Committee, where the Minister of Internal Affairs, Hekuran Isai, also participates.
Kosovar immigrants are also discussed here. The leadership is not swayed by the opinion that we should return them, while Enver Hoxha is more honest than ever saying that they could not make propaganda against Yugoslavia.
The conversation held at the meeting of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the PPSh
Comrade Hekuran Isai: From Kosovo, Comrade Enver, almost 5-6-7 or sometimes even 8 fugitives come to us every month. Almost every week they cross the Yugoslav-Albanian border. They come with different pretexts, one says: “I came to continue school”, the other, “UDB is following me”, who like this and who like that.
Yes, after we have consulted and we collect them from where they came and why they came, where you think to go and how you will go, we send them back. We say well, you come here, but your friends are fighting in Kosovo, so why are you leaving, your duty is to fight, because there is a war there.
Well, you came here and let’s assume that we sheltered you, gave you work or to eat and drink, but in fact you leave there because of the war. That’s how we try to convince them to come back and we think we did well to bring them back.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: How old are these?
Comrade Hekuran Isai: There are quite young people, 15 or 20, there are 30-year-olds, there are those who come with families and are of different ages. I think we did well to return them. We only keep some rare ones and we do this in consultation with the comrades of the Central Committee, which is related to some important problem.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: What about these returning through the border?
Comrade Hekuran Isai: Yes, they return through the border.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: You mean we hand them over?
Comrade Hekuran Isai: We are handing them over. When we are convinced that he is a good person, we have returned him incognito, without handing him over, the others we have returned to the Yugoslavs. The fact is that some of these that we return, the Yugoslavs processed them; they took a good part of them to us on purpose.
Out of 100 people who come to us, they take 70 for their own interests; among them they introduce 30 good ones. We follow this path now with the Kosovars who pass through here, Comrade Enver, because it becomes a burden to us, because after the political shelter, they want a monthly salary, they want clothes, they want a job.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: We cannot feed them.
Comrade Ramiz Alia: Here is the issue that if they hear that the others we are feeding, we also give them work, the way opens and let’s keep it then.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: No, we cannot feed them, and then we are not sure what kind of people are those who come. We cannot make propaganda against Yugoslavia with Kosovar refugees. This is not our business.
Comrade Hekuran Isai: I have had pressure from Kosovars who have settled in our country for some time, some of whom have also worked in the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. ‘But how do we return these’, one told me, ‘why do we hand them over’?
I told him, we hand it over to the UDB, why are you assuring me that it did not send them for its purposes? Take a promise, you didn’t send it to the UDB? Why do I come up with such a thought?
We advise them to return, to go and fight there, and this is a good thing, indeed, in these difficult situations, every Kosovar must fight for his country. But you say let’s absorb them all.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: What are we doing here with all those people?
Comrade Hekuran Isai: Then half of who knows how many others like these could be UDB agents. That’s why we followed this tactic, after talking with our comrades in the Central Committee apparatus about this issue.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: Good, you thought correctly. I also agree, this is how it should be done, especially while we don’t know them. I remembered that they don’t come anymore.
Comrade Hekuran Isai: No, they don’t come constantly.
Comrade Enver Hoxha: Five-six a month definitely come, you say.
Comrade Hekuran Isai: Comrade Enver is coming, they are coming again. Memorie.al
