"It's true that everything is destroyed but I feel great because we are free now. We don't see police or paramilitaries here. It's our land now," said Ms Shevrije Rrustemi, a Kosovo Albanian refugee who arrived back in the provincial capital, Pristina, on the first day of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees-organised repatriation plan.
After six weeks in Stankovic refugee camp in Macedonia, Ms Rrustemi and her family now plan to return to their village in northern Kosovo. They will live in a tent in the garden of her house, which has been burnt down.
Tiredness shows on the faces of the hundred or so extended families who arrived yet there are also smiles of relief. The expressions belie the great uncertainties ahead.
Ms Sale Drogusha, an elderly woman, is about to return to her home town of Podevevo. There she will find out more about what happened to five members of her family whom she lost when they were sent on different roads out of Kosovo three months ago.
She was told that they went to Albania but has heard nothing from them in the three months since. "I don't know if they are alive or dead," she says. "Still, I am very happy that I have returned. If I am going to die I am going to die free."
After the hot bus journey, Samire Reci (11) plays with other children as they grab bottles of water supplied by aid agencies. She is excited to be back, although her sister is missing and she has no home to return to. "We'll stay in our neighbour's house which is not so badly burned, because they have gone to Germany."
Starting from yesterday, UNHCR will be taking refugees back by bus on a daily basis to the Kfor-declared safe towns of Pristina, Prizren and Orahevac.
Although over half of the roughly 800,000 refugees who were displaced into the neighbouring countries of Albania, Macedonia, Montenegro and Bosnia have already returned independently, the UNHCR repatriation plan is to assist vulnerable people and those without transport or finances to return.
The plan is also phased to give Kfor and de-mining experts more time to make areas safe and aid agencies a chance to put humanitarian relief structures into place.
Mr Michael Barton, spokesman for the International Organisation for Migration, which is helping implement the plan, says: "One of the reasons why we have organised a slower return is because we have been trying to set up a humanitarian network.
"Particularly in the rural areas, we don't have capacity yet. In the areas that are completely destroyed with no infrastructure, it's very hard to get humanitarian assistance going."
While returning refugees have been greeted by the local KLA over recent weeks, officially from today the soldiers will be gone from the streets. Midnight last night marked the second phase of the KLA's demilitarisation agreement signed seven days ago.
It is the most significant part of the demilitarisation process in which all arms, aside from those to be legally held by senior commanders, must now be handed in. Uniforms and insignia are to be worn only within designated KLA local government buildings or barracks.
As part of the voluntary demilitarisation, weapons stores are being set up and the plan is that 30 per cent of all weapons will be handed in between this phase and the next, which will come into effect in 30 days. At the end of 90 days, it is hoped that 100 per cent of arms will be collected.
Lieut Commander Louis Garneau says so far the demilitarisation agreement has been going according to plan. "There may be some stragglers in terms of their willingness to hand over arms but we will try to assist them and show some flexibility at the initial stages to encourage them to comply fully."
Reuters adds: In Belgrade yesterday, Mr Dragan Milovanovic, leader of the Association of Autonomous and Independent Unions, reacted angrily to official suggestions that workers, especially those made jobless by NATO's bombing campaign, might be asked to help in Serbia's reconstruction.
Mr Milovanovic said the labour situation in Serbia was dire, with 600,000 jobless and the lowest wages in Europe. "The union won't allow any more unpaid work and will actively join the fight against the regime [of Mr Slobodan Milosevic]," he told a joint news conference with the main opposition group. He said he hoped Mr Milosevic would be out of power by the end of the year.
The union is a member of the Alliance for Change, an umbrella opposition group planning to start a series of protest rallies this week.
A large explosion rocked Pristina yesterday. British forces said the blast was a controlled explosion of Serb mines.