Dritan Dema, now 31, arrived in Birmingham from Albania nine years ago after fleeing Slobodan Milosevic's regime. At the time, he spoke two words of English and quickly realised that the key to successful integration lay within himself. This is his story... "I lived in Kosovo and then Albania before I sought asylum in Birmingham in June 1996. I was forced to flee because ethnic Albanians were suffering persecution from the Serbian police and military. "As a Muslim ethnic Albanian, I couldn't live freely and we were not allowed to speak Albanian. At the time, I was required to join the Serbian army but didn't want to. "There had been lots of occasions where Albanians in the army were put in the worst positions and sent to fight against people who had done nothing wrong. The Serbian army were against their own people, so I fled. "The first few months in Birmingham were very, very hard. I was alone and there were no Albanian speakers or interpreters in the city. I knew nothing about life in Britain and the culture. The only two English words I knew were 'yes' and 'no'. I lived in a house in Sparkbrook and was on benefits until 1998 or 1999. "In the beginning I was supported by the Midlands Refugee Council and someone from the Red Cross but I was determined to learn everything and get to know how everything worked - but it was a big city. I enrolled at the Brasshouse Language Centre a month after I arrived to learn English and I used to go to Birmingham Central Library every day to study. I continued studying English for a year and then enrolled at Bournville College to study A-level law. "A year after arriving I was given refugee status. I then started working as a freelance Albanian English interpreter and that helped me lot because I was not only helping myself but helping others. "Looking back, I have actually been really lucky. I was well received by white British people, in fact the only time I was racially abused was by a member of the the National Asylum Support Service. I reported them and got an apology - after two years. "Mind you, I was determined to be active and help myself. My attitude helped me to integrate and communicate on many different levels. "All my skills and education really came into play during the Kosovan crisis in 1999. I helped set up the Midlands Ethnic Albanian Foundation to support Albanian speaking refugees in the region. I became a British citizen in August 2002 and now work as a deputy team manager for an interpreting service. "I also work with refugees and asylum seekers myself and I know life for them is much harder because of the Government trying to restrict their entitlements and the numbers coming into the country. "Many asylum seekers have no support, are left homeless and this has an effect on their physical and mental wellbeing. The negative media coverage has an impact in a sense that people are openly hostile to asylum seekers and refugees generally and do not understand the truth about their lives. "My hopes for the future are to continue working, complete my part time studies and get a degree in law. I have got a lot of friends and well-wishers in Birmingham. I really like it here and I feel like everyone else who has lived here - I wouldn't want to live in any other British city." | 
