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A:
Serbia making all efforts to help refugees integrate
Belgrade,
22 October 2007
Serbian Commissioner for Refugees Dragisa Dabetic said today that Serbia is making all efforts to help refugees integrate, while trying to revive the process of return.
Speaking at the conference “Local Integration of Refugees in Serbia – Law, Practice, Recommendations”, which was organised by the UNHCR and the OSCE Commission, Dabetic said that the Sarajevo Declaration signed by Serbia and Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina envisages the return of refugees.
According to Dabetic, some 7,072 cases concerning housing problems were resolved for nearly 28,000 refugees until July, and 2,961 housing facilities were secured. An additional 264 village houses were bought and distributed, while 2,699 building land plots were distributed for finishing construction of housing facilities.
He recalled that in Serbia there are some 209,579 internally displaced persons from Kosovo-Metohija, which is 1,500 more than last year. There are also 98,104 persons with established refugee status.
Dabetic said that it is estimated that there are 200,000 refugees in Serbia who received Serbian citizenship, while 7,202 persons are still living in collective centres, of whom 5,189 are internally displaced and 2,013 are refugees.
Stressing that Serbia is continuing activities directed towards integration he said that the most important and costly part of integration is resolving the housing problem.
Dabetic added that a project for constructing nearly 1,000 residential facilities for refugees will be realised during the upcoming period, which will be financed with funds from the Council of Europe Development Bank.
He said that 50 more housing facilities will be constructed for refugees during the next few months. He added that monetary support consisting of capital for self employment was also provided.
Dabetic recalled that the Sarajevo Declaration envisaged complete resolution of the refugee issue by the end of 2006. He said that the process of return is not being realised according to expectations.
He expressed expectation that the OSCE, the European Commission and the UNHCR will continue to make efforts to implement the declaration.
According to Dabetic, some 7,072 cases concerning housing problems were resolved for nearly 28,000 refugees until July, and 2,961 housing facilities were secured. An additional 264 village houses were bought and distributed, while 2,699 building land plots were distributed for finishing construction of housing facilities.
He recalled that in Serbia there are some 209,579 internally displaced persons from Kosovo-Metohija, which is 1,500 more than last year. There are also 98,104 persons with established refugee status.
Dabetic said that it is estimated that there are 200,000 refugees in Serbia who received Serbian citizenship, while 7,202 persons are still living in collective centres, of whom 5,189 are internally displaced and 2,013 are refugees.
Stressing that Serbia is continuing activities directed towards integration he said that the most important and costly part of integration is resolving the housing problem.
Dabetic added that a project for constructing nearly 1,000 residential facilities for refugees will be realised during the upcoming period, which will be financed with funds from the Council of Europe Development Bank.
He said that 50 more housing facilities will be constructed for refugees during the next few months. He added that monetary support consisting of capital for self employment was also provided.
Dabetic recalled that the Sarajevo Declaration envisaged complete resolution of the refugee issue by the end of 2006. He said that the process of return is not being realised according to expectations.
He expressed expectation that the OSCE, the European Commission and the UNHCR will continue to make efforts to implement the declaration.
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