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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Integration of sensitive groups priority in European integration

Belgrade, 18 July 2006

Head of the Serbian government’s EU Integration Office Tanja Miscevic said today that the participation of sensitive groups of the population – Roma, refugees and displaced persons, is one of the priorities in European integration, and on its basis the success of the integration process of a state into the EU is measured.

Tanja Miscevic

Author: FoNet

Speaking at a presentation of the report by the United Nations Development Programme titled “At Risk: social handicaps of Roma, refugees and internally displaced persons”, she said that the process of European integration requires integration of every part of society, because that is the real process of reform.

According to Miscevic, integration is based on principals of non-discrimination and cohesion, which means reducing existing differences.

Director of the Serbian government’s Service for Human and Minority Rights Petar Ladjevic said that within the service there is a council for Roma related issues, which is preparing a strategy for including Roma in social life.

When it comes to the issue of refugees, Ladjevic said that there is excellent cooperation with the Commission for Refugees, and there is cooperation with the Coordinating Centre for Kosovo-Meothija on the question of internally displaced persons from the province.

Speaking on the position of Roma, he said that no major progress has been made concerning their employment and health protection, but there has been some progress in the sphere of education.

Commissioner for Refugees Dragisa Dabetic said that there are 107,000 registered refugees in Serbia, while 200,000 refugees are in the process of acquiring citizenship, and the number of registered internally displaced persons is 208,000.

Dabetic recalled that Serbia is simultaneously implementing the process of integration and return of refugees, but he pointed out that when it comes to the issue of return the implementation of the Sarajevo Declaration has come to a halt, while with Croatia there are problems regarding the issues of tenants’ rights and years of service .

Speaking on the process of integration of refugees, he said that it is not enough just to give citizenship to people, but it is necessary to make efforts in other ways so that these people do not become socially problematic groups.

According to Dabetic, the Commission for Refugees is implementing most of the projects with the help of the European Agency for Reconstruction, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, and dearth of funds is a constant problem in the integration process.