Journalism
6. KUKES - THE WORLD'S SADDEST PLACE
Until
yesterday, no-one was aware of the existence of this small
place in the north of Albania that was built for housing the
workers on the hydro power plant in 1976. This 'newly com-posed'
unstriking small town with its simple cubic socialist buildings
with only 12,000 inhabitants, became the world's saddest
place overnight, when it was flooded by more than 100,000
Kosovo refugees. Who would ever imagine that the forsaken
Kukes (Albanians say Kux) would see the day when even the
smallest available room for rent would reach an astronomical
price. Those refugees that managed to keep some savings despite
Serbian robberies, gave it away to pay for rooms and flats.
Those who didn't, and that is the majority, live in tents
surrounded by dirt and mud...
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