Bonn, Sunday
TRAINLOADS of exhausted Bosnian refugees fleeing the trauma of civil
war arrived in towns across Germany today as Bonn's emergency relief
drive went into full swing.
The 2600 men, women, and children, wearing identity labels and
carrying little luggage, began their stay here stammering their
gratitude in broken German but looking drawn and sad.
Almost all were Muslims driven from Bosanki Novi, a town in
north-western Bosnia hit by Serb irregulars in their ''ethnic
cleansing'' drive.
Three trains crossed the Austrian border into the southern state of
Bavaria overnight after a nine-hour journey from the frontline Croatian
town of Karlovac.
Three more trains carrying a further 2500 people were due late tonight
or early tomorrow.
Among the refugees were two babies born as their mothers waited for
the trains in Karlovac.
''The Serbs set my house on fire. They forced me from my village and
from my job so I'm glad that I've got out of that hell,'' said one man,
sitting in a train carriage strewn with sleeping women and children.
Other refugees hid their faces from photographers, fearing Serb
retaliation, but one young mother said: ''I'm so thankful I'm here but I
hope the war in Bosnia will stop sometime and that I will go home soon
with my children.''
Germany, to encourage European Community partners to accept more of
the 2.2 million refugees fleeing former Yugoslavia, announced last week
it would take a further 5000 people in addition to the 200,000 it says
it has already accepted.
The three trains stopped briefly at the Austrian-German border during
the night to take on food before rumbling off to cities across Germany
with their weary passengers.
One train rolled into the Bavarian city of Nuremberg early today to
leave some 700 refugees before continuing its journey north, taking 150
more to Erfurt in the eastern state of Thuringia.
Another arrived mid-morning in Unna in North Rhine-Westfalia carrying
about 800 people, some waving from the train windows.
A third, carrying about 930, was due later in the south-western cities
of Karlsruhe and Kaiserslautern.
Most refugees, supplied with food and hygiene packs and a small gift
of money, will be bussed to Government camps where they will live for
several days before moving in with families who have offered to house
them.
In Bavaria alone, officials said they had received 2500 offers of
shelter from ordinary Germans moved by television reports of the
refugees' misery.
They came mostly in families, many with children, and the first train
also had a surprisingly high number of young men on board, Red Cross
doctor Hans Pallaske said.
Bavarian officials said 40% of the arrivals were children. Red Cross
officials said they had heard, but could not confirm, that many were war
orphans.--Reuter.
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