(27 May 1996) Eng/Serbo-Croat/Nat
More than 100 Bosnian refugees who escaped the war by fleeing to Turkey have finally returned to Sarajevo.
There were emotional scenes in the Bosnian capital as they were reunited with their relatives, who some of them hadn't seen for years.
The refugees, most of them women and children, had fled from the eastern Bosnian towns of Foca and Visegrad at the height of the war.
A chartered Russian transport plane brought home to Sarajevo 120 Bosnian refugees from Turkey on Sunday.
The refugees, most of them women and children, fled from the eastern Bosnian towns of Foca and Visegrad.
Their return flight was organised by the Bosnian Ministry for Refugees.
There are some five-thousand Bosnian refugees in Turkey.
One Sarajevan waiting for the return of his brother was unsure whether he would still recognise him.
SOUNDBITE:
"I'm very excited but I do not know what my first reaction will be when I see them. I think, I even don't know if I will recognise my brother. He was this big when he went away and now he is 10 years old."
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop
The joy for these families at being together was obvious.
But despite the excitement there were concerns about whether conditions were completely right for the return of all refugees.
For this man there was no doubt.
SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"For me the situation is right, if not then we will fight."
SUPER CAPTION: Former Bosnian refugee
However there was no happy reunion for this woman.
SOUNDBITE: (Serbo-Croat)
"I was so surprised to see so many people here but there is nobody here that I knew. My father has died and my husband was killed. I am alone with a six-year-old daughter."
SUPER CAPTION: Voxpop
The returning 120 refugees are the first out of a group of two-thousand refugees who are to be repatriated in the near future by the Bosnian Ministry for Refugees.
A further three-thousand will remain in Turkey until their return can be organised.
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