REMZIJE Sherifi was already on a plane heading to Prestwick Airport when she learned her family was coming to Glasgow.

Fighting cancer and with her husband and three sons in tow, she was urgently in need of medical treatment.

But more urgent than that, says Remzije, was the need for a life lived without constant fear for her children’s lives.

It was 1999 and Kosovan Remzije and her family were the first of thousands who would settle in the city in the following years as result of conflicts across the world.

The Kosovan refugees, followed by those fleeing the Bosnian War, were initially placed in two communities – Red Road and Sighthill –with Sighthill alone taking in more than 2000 displaced people.

“The city changed overnight,” remembers Remzije, now a coordinator with Maryhill Integration Network.

What followed was tension among some, as well as an increase in crime, and even the tragic death of one young Turkish man.

But now, with the acceptance that this policy – described as “ghettoisation” –failed and that not enough was done to educate local people, Glasgow is leading the way as part of a national taskforce to ensure the country is ready to offer refuge to those fleeing violence in Syria.

The UK Government has committed to taking 20,000 people from the refugee camps and 2000 are expected to come to Scotland – including Glasgow – under the Syrian Vulnerable Person’s Relocation Scheme before Christmas.

Humza Yousaf, the Scottish Government’s minister for International Development and MSP for Glasgow Pollok, said that “while it is imperative that lessons are learned” from the past, Glasgow is now a leading light for other Scottish local authorities preparing to settle Syrian refugees.

He added that a Scottish Government taskforce will ensure refugee families are spread out across local authority areas, and discussions will be held with neighbours, community councils and local businesses to combat integration issues.

Mr Yousaf said: “It is fair criticism to say that not enough was done to help integrate refugees in the late 90s, early 2000.

“And we can’t see a repeat of the ghettoisation of placing so many people in the one area.”

Mr Yousaf, who grew up in the city, said: “I remember being about 14 or 15 at Glasgow Central Mosque, just after refugees from Bosnia had come to the city, and realising that I had never seen a white Muslim before.

“When I spoke to them I began to understand what they had been through and why they were here.”

He added: “Recently there has been a lot of public empathy for those caught up in the Syrian refugee crisis but I wouldn’t like to exaggerate it – some people still have serious concerns about welcoming refugees.

“And the concerns can change from local area to local area – there may be particular issues about a school roll being too, full for example.

“This is why we need to speak to neighbours and community councils and I hope to be able to do much of this myself.”

The taskforce will look at sharing stories about what those coming to Scotland – considered to be some of the most vulnerable people in the refugee camps – have been through.

In Remzije’s case, in 1999, at the height of the Kosovan War, she and her family had been hiding from violence in basements, sometimes for days on end.

She said: “Our home was destroyed. I was just waiting for someone to find us and kill us. My sons were just 13, 15 and 17.”

Soon after they arrived in a refugee camp in Macedonia.

Remzije had previously undergone treatment for breast cancer.

But it returned while she was in the camp and medics confirmed that she would need further treatment.

She was then informed that she – along with others in need of urgent medical treatment for illnesses as well as serious injuries caused by the conflict – would be going to the UK.

Remzije said: “364 people were evacuated on a plane in one day to the UK, to Glasgow.

“I remember the warm welcome we received from officials in Prestwick.

“This was a big change from living for 10 years in a state where we feared the police and army, and what was going to happen next.

“I was very relieved because I knew my children were going to be safe but I can’t describe the feeling of leaving everything behind.”

Soon after arriving in the city the mum-of-three started working with refugee families and local people to “fill in the gaps” in the services provided, and she became an EveningTimes Community Champion in 2009 for her work with the Maryhill Integration Network,

Over the last 15 years she has given vital support to thousands of refugees and asylum seekers in Glasgow.

Remzije, 60, said: “Work to educate local people about why refugees are here and what they have been through is absolutely vital.

“There has been progress over the years and the Integration Network is dedicated to this but I feel that more must be done.

“The groups we must work with are children, under fives, and older people.

“In my experience, the people in the middle are more likely to be engaged with what is happing across the world.”

She added that she was moved to tears after hearing someone make derogatory comments to a female refugee about how she had a “free bus pass”.

She said: “You don’t think about these things when you are fleeing war. You hope for a life where your children can be safe.

“Glasgow gave a second chance at life.

“This city gave me the chance to dream again.

“Because for10 years, before I came here, I had no such right.”