Dani Brajshori is a dad, a husband and once upon a time a young man fleeing one of Milosevic’s crimes and human rights violations in the heart of Europe; Kosovo, a small country with a population smaller than Toronto, with conflict turning heads on an international scale; war crimes severe enough seeking the attention of The Hague Tribunal and human rights advocates. Brajshori witnessed some of those violations even before the war began. “Young adults like me were denied the right to learn in Albanian and forbidden from carrying books in our mother tongue. If caught, we faced torture if lucky—or worse”

In 1997-1998 as a young University student, Brajshori protested against Serbia’s regime in Kosovo, which had shut down schools and persecuted students fighting for education in Albanian – Brajoshori's parents feared his activism was putting his life in danger so they arranged him to move to Germany for the time being until Kosovo moved into calmer waters; so they thought. The war in Kosovo only intensified. Not long after his move to Germany, his parents were forcibly displaced from their home leaving everything behind and coming to Canada as refugees part of Operation Parasol; starting over a new life. Their parents stayed at the CFB Borden military base in Ottawa along with countless of other Kosovo refugees that were airlifted to Canada from Macedonia.

According to a report from Pier21, Museum of Immigration research paper, the paper states “that in a phone call with the minister, Citizenship and Immigration Canada’s (CIC) Director General, Refugees, Gerry Van Kessel, recalls that Minister Robillard agreed that it was preferable for Canada to provide financial assistance to FYR Macedonia and Albania rather than refugee resettlement. Despite this evaluation, CIC officials learned hours later that Prime Minister Jean Chrétien spoke with U.S. President Bill Clinton and agreed to accept 5,000 Kosovar refugees.”

Canada’s Prime Minister at the time, Jean Chrétien made the call that Canada was to accept the first wave of refugees within 72 hours, airlifting over 5,000 refugees initially but that number grew to over 7000 due to bringing others part of the family reunification process that was offered to the refugees. Brajshori was one of them that came to Canada reuniting with his family by December of 1999. Canada has given many opportunities to Brajshori. He’s completed his higher education that was put at a stall during the conflict in Kosovo and now works with the Department of National Defence “My connection to the Canadian Armed Forces runs deep—not only because of their mission and values but also because of their pivotal role in liberating Kosovo and preventing genocide” he says.