The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) presented today an “Assessment of the Needs of Internally Displaced Roma in Serbia“, which it had initiated in cooperation with the Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS) and the Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia.
The assessment presents a comprehensive social profile of internally displaced Roma in several municipalities in Serbia, as well as a thorough overview of their specific needs and problems.
According to Mr Hans Friedrich Schodder, the UNHCR Representative in Serbia, 38 million people world-wide have fled war, conflict and other human rights violations within their own countries, mainly within Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, the DR Congo or Nigeria.
16 years after the 1999 conflict, approximately 90,000 internally displaced persons within Serbia still have displacement-related needs and lack a durable solution. Efforts to support their local integration – unless or until return becomes possible – need to be intensified and accelerated.
The assessment was based on a CeSID survey of 800 internally displaced and 400 domicile Roma households in 18 municipalities that are estimated to house more than two thirds of internally displaced Roma in Serbia. It found that around 21,000 internally displaced Roma live below the at-risk-of-poverty threshold and some 20,000 in sub-standard shelters. Only some 550 wish to return to their homes in Kosovo. Based on the assessment’s indicators, approximately 14,500 internally displaced Roma are still in need of housing assistance.
UNHCR has been assisting the internally displaced in Serbia since 1999 and remains committed to supporting the Government of Serbia’s strategy to provide all of them with durable solutions within the next few years.
Mr Vladimir Cucic, the Commissioner for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, confirmed that the Roma ethnic minority has been recognized as a particularly vulnerable category of internally displaced persons and that the Commissariat has been working on improving their living conditions and socio-economic status. He said that his office will continue funding the accommodation of internally displaced in collective centres until durable solutions are found. The Commissariat will also continue providing care and assistance for internally displaced Rоmа in formal and informal collective centers and Rоmа returnees under the Readmission Agreement. The funds for this purpose will be ensured from EU IPA and other international donors.
Download the full assessment from here
UNHCR opened its offices in Belgrade in 1976. Since 1992 the UN Refugee Agency has assisted Serbia’s protection and integration of refugees, other displaced and stateless people with over 500 million Euros.
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