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After fleeing Kosovo to escape ethnic strife, a group of refugees say they now face harassment and violence at North Hills High School because of who they are and the language they speak.

Three Kosovar teenagers -- Bekim Krasniqi and Besim and Blerim Hysenaj -- were among nine students suspended by the school after a cafeteria fight April 30.

They said the fight -- which attracted seven Ross police units and led to seven citations for disorderly conduct -- was the latest incident of discrimination and harassment they've had to endure. School officials are investigating the allegations.

The Kosovars said shoves in the hallways, rude gestures and taunts of "refugee," "foreigner" and "go back to your country, you don't belong here" have been a constant part of their school lives for months. During an April 26 altercation between Blerim Hysenaj and an American youth, the refugees said, other students in the cafeteria began chanting "USA! USA!"

"I brought them here for freedom," said Azem Hysenaj, 24, brother and guardian of Besim, 17, Blerim, 19, and Agon, 16. Now, Azem said, he is afraid to let his brothers return to the school.

After the lunchroom melee -- in which police said chairs were thrown and several students had minor injuries -- Principal John McCurry said the fight had nothing to do with ethnic conflict. He described it as a typical juvenile altercation, possibly about a girl.

The Kosovars disagree.

"He knew perfectly. He knew everything," said Gazmend Murtezi, 22, who acts as a translator for the younger Kosovars. "Everybody knows it wasn't about a girl."

McCurry has since declined to comment on the incident, but district spokeswoman Tina Vojtko said yesterday that it now appears the April 30 fight was retaliation for an incident earlier that week when one Kosovar struck another student.

Vojtko said some students chanted "USA" during that incident.

"Unfortunately, that did occur," she said, adding that McCurry used the public address system to tell students such behavior is not acceptable.

Long-simmering conflict

The Kosovars said they had complained to McCurry for months and told him they feared for their safety.

Vojtko said high school administrators have tried to address the conflict between the Kosovars and other students.

"They have met with the ESL (English as a Second Language) students to listen to their concerns, and following each and every meeting, the principals have investigated each allegation," she said.

Vojtko said the ESL students would not have been informed of any disciplinary action that was taken against other students, and so might think that their concerns were not being addressed. She would not say whether anyone had been disciplined, citing student confidentiality.

Krasniqi and Besim and Blerim Hysenaj were among the students cited for disorderly conduct, and they plan to fight the charges, which carry $320 fines, Murtezi said.

Murtezi said that just minutes before the cafeteria fight, Bekim Hysenaj went to McCurry and told him the boys were afraid to go to the cafeteria that day.

Vojtko said two ESL students did speak with McCurry that day but did not express any fear for their safety.

"Had that occurred, the high school administration would have intervened immediately to protect that safety of all students," she said.

The Kosovar students and their families took their complaints to the school board the Monday after the fight, and the district has launched an investigation.

Under investigation

Superintendent John Esias said all nine students involved in the fight have been interviewed, and he and McCurry are preparing a report for the board.

"Obviously, everybody (involved) has their own story," Esias said.

"We have a lot of people working on how to mediate with the students to try resolve (this conflict), as well as looking at what can we do for the entire high school, to make them realize this is not the way we want to operate," he said. "We certainly aren't going to tolerate students feeling unsafe in school."

Vojtko said the results of the investigation will be provided to the school board May 17 but will not be made public.

School board member Sylvia Lynn said she is troubled by the Kosovars' allegations.

"It kind of caught us by surprise," she said. "These allegations are going to be taken very seriously, because we just can't do this. We just can't tolerate it."

Although the Kosovar students have served their suspensions, Azem Hysenaj said they have not yet returned to school because they fear for their safety.

Lynn said that is not acceptable.

"We cannot have our children afraid to go to school," she said.

Fear lingers

Azem Hysenaj said he does not want to leave the Ross neighborhood where he and his brothers live, along with about 60 other Kosovars.

"They'd love to go to the same school (next year). The teachers are nice. They love the teachers," the oldest of the brothers said. "But these guys can't get beat up again. I don't want them to go back and get hurt."

"(The district) has to do something. I just want them to be safe," he said.

As ethnic Albanians in Kosovo, the refugees said they lived in constant fear of being beaten or arrested, even killed.

"We were born in war -- born and raised," Murtezi said. "It was terrible, walking down the street and seeing dead bodies. We had to keep our heads down. Serbs beat us for having Albanian language books, for walking down the streets. You (could) never ever go out after 8 p.m. -- never."

The refugees said the incidents at school are radically different from the rest of their experiences in America. They said they are grateful to the United States for leading the military intervention in Kosovo and freeing their people from the regime of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosovic.

"I love America. They came over there and fought for us to bring justice because they saw we were suffering," Murtezi said. "They saved our souls."

He said the refugees have been treated incredibly well in America -- "like a dream" -- until recent months at the school. Murtezi said they will not allow the students to be persecuted for their ethnicity or for speaking the "wrong" language -- the same reasons they were persecuted in Kosovo.

"If there would be a fight for some other reason, I wouldn't make a big deal. But this is a big deal," Murtezi said. "If we just leave it as they say -- a fight about a girl -- it's going to happen again. They have to see that they're wrong."

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