Q:
A:
Over €1 bln set aside for refugees in last 16 years
Belgrade,
2 August 2007
Serbian Commissioner for Refugees Dragisa Dabetic said today that tenant's rights that were taken away and non-recognition of years of employment is still the major obstacle for return of refugees to Croatia.
In an interview to Beta news agency, Dabetic said that 12 years after the expulsion of 200,000 Serbs from Croatia in the operation of Croatian forces "Storm" (Oluja), a lot has been done on the resolution of the problem of refugees, but that is still not sufficient.
He said that in 2001, Serbia made a democratic move and gave citizenship to refugees, which is a formal precondition for integration.
Speaking about the process of integration of refugees to Serbia, Dabetic said that some 200,000 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina obtained Serbian citizenship and added that in the last 16 years, more than €1 billion has been set aside for refugees.
In the beginning, most of the funds went to humanitarian assistance, but later on it was used for more permanent solutions, such as integration, the Commissioner said and added that Serbia sets aside €45 million per year for refugees if free land that has been ceded for construction is included, together with health insurance and other benefits.
According to him, some 7,000 housing facilities have been made so far, which means that 28,000 people were given a place to live in.
He said that right now there are 100,000 people with formal refugee status, of which number over 80,000 are refugees from Croatia.
The return of Serb refugees to Croatia is far below the desired level, while the dynamic of return to Bosnia-Herzegovina has been much better because 99% of property rights have been settled there and the restitution of tenant's rights has also been carried out, Dabetic explained.
He explained that the major problem in Croatia is that Serbs lost around 30,000 tenant's rights there.
The Commissioner said that farmers and pensioners are mostly the ones who returned to Croatia because they have some sort of income and that is why there is a small possibility for someone young to decide to return to Croatia if they cannot find a job there.
He said that in 2001, Serbia made a democratic move and gave citizenship to refugees, which is a formal precondition for integration.
Speaking about the process of integration of refugees to Serbia, Dabetic said that some 200,000 refugees from Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina obtained Serbian citizenship and added that in the last 16 years, more than €1 billion has been set aside for refugees.
In the beginning, most of the funds went to humanitarian assistance, but later on it was used for more permanent solutions, such as integration, the Commissioner said and added that Serbia sets aside €45 million per year for refugees if free land that has been ceded for construction is included, together with health insurance and other benefits.
According to him, some 7,000 housing facilities have been made so far, which means that 28,000 people were given a place to live in.
He said that right now there are 100,000 people with formal refugee status, of which number over 80,000 are refugees from Croatia.
The return of Serb refugees to Croatia is far below the desired level, while the dynamic of return to Bosnia-Herzegovina has been much better because 99% of property rights have been settled there and the restitution of tenant's rights has also been carried out, Dabetic explained.
He explained that the major problem in Croatia is that Serbs lost around 30,000 tenant's rights there.
The Commissioner said that farmers and pensioners are mostly the ones who returned to Croatia because they have some sort of income and that is why there is a small possibility for someone young to decide to return to Croatia if they cannot find a job there.
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