A humanitarian crisis

Clinton: Don't form prejudice against Serbs

ROSEVILLE, Mich. - Addressing representatives from humanitarian relief work organizations, President Clinton on Friday urged Americans to refrain from discriminating against Serbian Americans and to do all they can to help the hundreds of thousands of suffering Kosovar refugees.

In addition to roughly 40,000 Albanian Americans living in the Detroit area, Clinton said the nation is home to many Serbian Americans who do not associate themselves with the actions of Yugoslav President Slobodon Milosevic.

DANA LINNANE/Daily President Clinton addresses more than 200 invited guests Friday at the Roseville Recreation Center in Roseville, Mich. about ongoing humanitarian relief efforts in Kosovo.

"I believe they want a democratic Serbia," Clinton said at the Roseville Recreation Center. "Most of them don't know what has been done in their name."

Clinton also announced plans for the Defense Department to build a new facility to house up to 20,000 refugees in Albania, as ethnic Albanians continue to stream out of Kosovo.

Defending the three-week campaign of airstrikes, Clinton said that unlike the Yugoslav government, NATO is not on an ethnically-biased crusade in the Balkans.

"Our quarrel is not with the Serbs in Serbia, it is not with the Serbs in Kosovo, it is not with Serbian Americans," Clinton said. "It is with the leadership of a person who believes it is all right to kill people and to uproot them and to destroy their family records and to erase any record of their presence in a land simply because of their ethnic heritage."

He noted that the conflict in Kosovo is a result of "the oldest problem of human society - our tendency to fear and dehumanize people who are different from ourselves."

House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt (D-Mo.), who accompanied Clinton, said the Yugoslav government has tried to mask "a humanitarian catastrophe" with political jargon.

"The term 'ethnic cleansing' is nothing more than a euphemism for genocide," Gephardt said. "The scope of this humanitarian crisis compels us as human beings to act and to act now."

The president reminded audience members that "for the moment we are caught up in a conflict for which we have clear objectives. But we must be thinking about tomorrow when the conflict is over, when the Kosovars are home.

"If you want people to give up the misery of yesterday," Clinton said, "you must give them the hope of tomorrow."

U.S. Rep. David Bonior (D-Port Huron) applauded American support for NATO's efforts, telling Clinton, "there are those who say we should remain silent and do nothing, but you refuse to look the other way."

Bonior said leaders of the mission against Milosevic's regime have one clear goal in mind - "to alleviate the suffering of hundreds of thousands of Kosovar refugees: fathers and sons killed in front of their families, daughters gang-raped by Serbians, elderly burned alive because they are too feeble to flee."

About 300 people were invited to the speech because of their efforts in fundraising and collecting much-needed food and other supplies for the refugees. Several audience members will soon see the conditions in the Balkans for themselves.

Capt. Jeff Smith of the Salvation Army said he learned last Monday that he will be going to Tirana, Albania, along with nine other members of a relief team. He is scheduled to spend a month in Albania helping to provide lodging and food for refugees.

"To be a part of the team is quite exciting," he said. "It's a place where the Salvation Army needs to be."

But not everyone invited to Clinton's speech was making such an immense commitment. One contributor had to be pulled out of the lunchroom at Martin Luther King, Jr., Academy by his mother to be in the audience.

Six-year-old Conor Esselink of Mt. Clemens donated $10 of his own money to the Red Cross in order to help refugees.

"I gave it to the refugees in Kosovo because they don't have much money, and they don't have much food either," he said.

Conor's mother Cassie Esselink said she was pleased to know her son was concerned with the conflict in Kosovo.

"I didn't tell him he had to give money," Cassie Esselink said. "It was completely his decision. I was very proud."

After the speech, Conor had the chance to meet Clinton. The president signed a copy of The Macomb Daily featuring a story about Conor's donation.

John Schultz, a spokesperson for the Southeast Michigan chapter of the American Red Cross, said the organization has set a goal of raising $1 million per week for Kosovar relief efforts. In the first week, more than $6 million was collected, and Schultz said he hopes people continue to donate generously.

"As long as its in the front of people's minds, we believe the American people will come through," Schultz said.

Clinton also was joined on stage by political leaders including Roseville Mayor Gerald Alsip and U.S. Reps. Debbie Stabenow (D-Lansing) and Sander Levin (D-Sterling Heights).

04-19-99