Friday,  November 9, 2012 • Vol. 13--No. 115 • 36 of 40 •  Other Editions

(Continued from page 35)

him, told stories of their pain and loss and recounted those horrific moments when gunfire changed their lives forever.
• "You killed six innocent people," said Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly. "Her life has been forever changed. Plans she had for our family and her career have been immeasurably altered. ... Every day is a continuous struggle to do those things she once was so good at."
• Giffords, wearing a black brace around her torso, looked closely at the 24-year-old Loughner for several minutes without uttering a word.
• ___

Balkan asylum seekers come under suspicion amid exodus to wealthy EU nations

• BUJANOVAC, Serbia (AP) -- Azra Ajeti's fellow Gypsies have been buffeted by accusations of filing bogus asylum claims in the rich EU, but she says there's nothing phony about her family's life of misery. "We are starving," said the woman from this impoverished southern Serbian town. "Life here is a disgrace."
• Ajeti's son was among some 60,000 people from Serbia and other Balkan countries who have sought asylum in Western Europe since the EU allowed visa-free travel from their nations three years ago. Many EU and local officials describe the exodus as little more than a fraud in which mostly Gypsy migrants cross over knowing their asylum requests have no chance, their main goal to obtain the food, lodging and, in some cases, living expenses worth hundreds of euros (dollars) per month they are entitled to while awaiting an answer.
• As a result of the continued surge, the EU states with the most Balkan asylum requests -- Germany, Sweden, Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Luxembourg -- are moving toward re-imposing visas for Serbia and Macedonia, the two countries that send the most asylum applicants.
• Many seekers, however, cite racial discrimination in their home countries as the reason for their flight, saying it constitutes legitimate grounds for asylum.
• "Everybody wants to leave," Ajeti said while selling old clothes that she picked out of garbage cans on the dusty streets of Bujanovac. "If I had money for a bus ticket, I would pack up and go right this instant."
• ___



(Continued on page 37)

© 2012 Groton Daily Independent • To send correspondence, click here.