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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Issue of forced displacement requires global solution, joint action

Belgrade/Geneva, 9 October 2023

First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ivica Dacic said in Geneva today that Serbia will continue to provide a constructive contribution to a comprehensive approach to finding lasting solutions, prevention and providing assistance and protection to persons in displacement, through the joint action of the UN and interested countries.

Speaking at the 74th session of the Executive Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Programme, Dacic said that Serbia unfortunately has direct experience with the sufferings of forcibly displaced persons.

He added that our country is especially grateful to the UNHCR for its help in implementing the Regional Housing Programme, which provided permanent housing solutions for refugees and people who were displaced due to the conflict on the territory of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The implementation of this Programme ended in June of this year. Thanks to the Regional Housing Programme, the housing needs of 7,495 of the most vulnerable refugee families in the Republic of Serbia have been resolved, emphasised Dacic.

He pointed out that, according to UNHCR data on Voluntary Non-Majority Returns, 12,707 internally displaced persons returned to Kosovo and Metohija and that due to numerous obstacles, including threats and violence, the sustainable return is even lower and is estimated at under 2 percent.

He emphasised that, in the spirit of solidarity and humanity, Serbia is committed to providing care for people who have left their homes, faced with security threats, and who are moving in the direction of European countries on the so-called "Balkan route".

Currently, close to 2,300 people are housed in reception centres and centres for asylum seekers, who are provided with all their needs, said the First Deputy Prime Minister and added that since the outbreak of the refugee crisis in Ukraine, Serbia has been actively involved in providing adequate protection and assistance to refugee Ukrainian citizens.