Cuban family finds welcome, refugee status in distant Serbia
ABC News
A Cuban couple and their daughter have resettled in Serbia after fleeing their Caribbean country five years ago
LAJKOVAC, Serbia -- Belquis Gonzales and her family enjoy something close to celebrity status in a small town in Serbia, where they live after fleeing Cuba five years ago.
They reached the Balkan country by an unlikely migration route that led through Russia, one of the few places in Europe for which Cubans don't need a visa. While most emigrants from the Caribbean island go to the United States or Spanish-speaking countries, Gonzales and her husband chose Serbia — again due to the lack of a visa requirement.
“We didn’t know anything about Serbia,” Gonzales told The Associated Press at the family's home in Lajkovac, a town about 80 kilometers (50 miles) southwest of the Serbian capital, Belgrade. "We had many doubts and many fears as well, but things have been a lot better than we had expected.”
Still struggling with the aftermath of wars and sanctions in the 1990s, Serbia is far from a promised land for people seeking to build new lives after fleeing violence, repression or poverty at home.
