‘I count my blessings on Australia Day’: Albanian shares journey to country.

A father-of-three shares how he went from fleeing Albania to become a successful businessman and why he appreciates every day lived in the land down under.

After escaping Albania solo when he was just 11-years-old, Ari Kucuku had to learn how to fend for himself early on in life, working 20-hour days on farms in Greece before fleeing to the UK to claim refugee status.

Now the father-of-three is a successful business owner and proudly calls Toowoomba home.

It’s days like January 26 that make him stop and reflect on his life’s journey and how fortunate he is to now call Australia home.

“I can still remember as a young boy walking for 12-15 days straight through the mountains of Albania because I wasn’t able to get a Visa to leave to Greece or go elsewhere in Europe so we had to go through the borders on foot and work on farms as cheap labour,” Ari said.

“We’d travel by night to avoid the military and police and my feet would get so torn up and bloody I had to walk on the outsides of my soles.

“But I grew up knowing I never wanted to get anything in life for free, I wanted to work hard to provide for my family and try to make a better life for myself.

“We’d work from four in the morning to sometimes 10 or 11 at night, and I’d just sleep in some bushes before getting up to do it all again. I was deported and sent back to Albania a couple of times, but I managed to keep getting back across the border, then I was able to get across to the UK and claim refugee status.”

Ari Kucuku said he’s grateful to be raising his family in a country as safe and as welcoming as Australia. Picture: Nev Madsen

Ari said he spent much of his young adulthood working security jobs across Europe before immigrating from London to Toowoomba on a five-year working Visa in 2008 and has proudly called the Garden City home ever since, marrying his Aussie wife Amanda several years ago.

After launching his business, KP Protection Services in 2016, Ari’s managed to grow his staff to over 70 people, encompassing the Darling and Western Downs as well as Ipswich, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast, priding themselves on providing professional, friendly protection.

“I think my past experiences ultimately made me a better man today and definitely make me appreciate being about to live in Australia and raise my family in a safe and welcoming country,” he said.

“I understand Australia Day is a contentious topic for many Australians and I can definitely see why, but for me and my family it’s a day to take a moment to appreciate how lucky we are.”

After 13 years in the country Ari said he recently became a permanent citizen just last year and is still working towards receiving Australian citizenship.

“I still take a lot of pride in teaching my children about their Albanian heritage and we will try to visit again when international travel is safe again but I think it’s great my family get the best of both worlds with their two cultural backgrounds.

“Everyday I’m just grateful my life lead me to end up here and has allowed me to make the best of everything, I think that’s what Australia Day is all about at the end of the day, just being grateful to live in a country where we are safe and get to make the most of our lives.

“That’s what being an Australian means to me.”