With new funds received and a new appeal for refugee aid during winter months launched, UNHCR Serbia is stepping up its procurement of aid in Serbia. By end October the UN refugee Agency had delivered humanitarian aid at the value of 2.4 million USD, which – with increasing winterization efforts – will grow to 8.7 million USD or close to one billion dinar by the end of 2015.
This is particularly important in view growing numbers of refugees Serbia is receiving. Of the 364,000 asylum-seekers registered in Serbia this year, almost half (180,000) expressed their wish to seek asylum in October alone.
With the help of computers and finger print scanners bought by the UN Refugee Agency, the Serbian Government was able to boost its daily registration capacity from below 1,000 to above 8,000 asylum-seekers per day. This has significantly reduced waiting time and improved flow management.
“Wherever possible, we are procuring relief items in the local market because this is usually the fastest and the most economical way to get aid to the refugees. At the same time, we can compensate the Serbian economy and people for the hospitality with which they have welcomed refugees and kept borders open,” said Hans Schodder, UNHCR Representative in Serbia.
The UN Refugee Agency is supporting the Government of Serbia, directly or through partners providing equipment for the authorities, construction work, medical assistance, legal aid, and food and water. In addition UNHCR has provided plastic sheets, rub halls, tents, mats, sleeping bags, hygiene items, footwear and winter clothing, baby items, heaters, torches, generators, blankets and wheel chairs to the refugees.
Among other aid, 43,000 blankets and 22,000 raincoats have already been distributed to refugees. “During the heavy rainfalls in mid-October we nearly depleted the whole Serbian market of rain coats,” Schodder said “Now we are buying winter clothing, again primarily in Serbia.”
UNHCR Serbia is most grateful for contributions already received from the people of Japan, ECHO, the governments of Switzerland and Canada, as well as private donors in Australia. In total UNHCR is now appealing to donors for nearly 100 million dollars for the region, of which 25% will go to Serbia.
“UNHCR is happy to be able to provide this extra support to the Government and people of Serbia, without diminishing any of its important ongoing projects to assist the integration of the displaced people from the region that found shelter in Serbia during the 1990s” Schodder concluded.
For more information, please contact:
Melita Sunjic, Public Information Unit, UNHCR Serbia, mob.+381 63 343 134
Mirjana Milenkovski, Public Information Unit, UNHCR Serbia, mob.+381 63 275 154
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