TV spotlight falls on how Nairn families opened hearts – and doors – to help Bosnian war refugees in the 1990s
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A heart-warming story of how families fleeing war in Bosnia were welcomed into the homes of local families is set be retold in a new TV documentary.
Nairn couple Marie and Blair Cruickshank were among many families who took in mothers and children in need during the dark days of the 1990s as conflict tore the former Yugoslavia apart.
In Saved by a Stranger, Mrs Cruickshank tells how she and her husband took in two different families at different times in 1992.
“We offered to take some of them for Christmas and basically fostered one family for six weeks and another at various times as well, while social workers in Moray tried to find homes for them,” she said.
“It was awful to hear what they had been through and if their story is told and it helps people get a greater understanding of what ‘refugee status’ means, the world will be a better place.”
Among the experiences related to her, Mrs Cruickshank said, was a case where mothers and children fleeing in one bus witnessed another busload of refugees being summarily executed.
The documentary sees Mrs Cruickshank reunited with Emina Arifovic Ferizovic, who was just six when she came to stay in Nairn and is now a successful US-based businesswoman.
“What I remember was how the people of Nairn took these children to their hearts and were so very kind,” Mrs Cruickshank said.
“The Bosnians were here for Christmas and and when I mentioned them at Boyne the chemist’s staff sent gifts, and then more just started flooding in.”
Of the reunion she said: “It was obviously very emotional. We just hugged and cried and it was lovely to hear how Emina, who now has two children of her own, is enjoying life in the US – and to hear of all the other families who escaped and made new lives for themselves.”
Saved by a Stranger is on BBC2 at 9pm on Thursday.
