On 28 June 2014, the world will be commemorating the 100th anniversary of the events in Sarajevo that triggered the outbreak of the First World War. The deaths and displacement of millions in WWI and the conflicts that followed took a heavy toll on Europe’s population. The Second World War had an even more devastating human effect, leaving Europe with over 40 million refugees at its end in 1945. To help Europeans displaced by that conflict, the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, was created in 1950.
Unfortunately, the history of displacement in Europe did not end with WWII. The violent break-up of the former Yugoslavia in the early 1990s led to a displacement of around 2.7 million people within and beyond the region. A majority of those uprooted in Europe’s worst conflict since 1945 have returned home or integrated locally. But many of the tens of thousands still displaced live in poverty and dire conditions – they need proper housing and continued assistance.
On 24 June 2014, almost one hundred years after the beginning of the First World War, construction works began in Korenica, Croatia, of a building with apartments for 29 returnees and their families. This event marks the commencement of the implementation of the first project within the so-called “Regional Housing Programme” (RHP)*, a joint multi-year programme by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro and Serbia which will provide permanent housing solutions to about 24,000 of the most vulnerable displaced families (74,000 people) in the region. Realization of the first RHP projects in other countries is expected to follow suit in the second half of 2014: in Serbia, building material packages and prefabricated houses will be provided to the benefit of 195 households; in Bosnia and Herzegovina, first families will receive building materials and turnkey reconstruction assistance; and in Montenegro, construction of two blocks of flats for 62 families is set to begin in Niksic.
In addition, more than 200,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), including some 80,000 members of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) minority groups remain in need of durable solutions in the region. The Governments of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo** are striving to develop and implement solutions for those vulnerable IDPs whose needs will not be covered by the “Regional Housing Programme”.
“UNHCR remains committed to continue providing support and technical assistance for the authorities throughout the region in order to accelerate access to decent housing and overall durable solutions for the most vulnerable refugees and other displaced persons affected by the conflicts in the Balkans in 1991-1995 and 1999, many of whom still live in collective centres and substandard private accommodation“, said Vincent Cochetel, director of UNHCR’s Bureau for Europe.
UNHCR estimates that overall today, 15 years after the end of conflicts on the territory of former Yugoslavia, there are still over 60,000 refugees and more than 311,000 internally displaced persons seeking for lasting solutions throughout Western Balkans.
*RHP is an integral part of the “Sarajevo Process on refugees and displaced persons”, which was initiated in 2005 and re-launched in March 2010. The four partner countries have committed themselves to this process in the November 2011 Belgrade Declaration, and at a donors’ conference in Sarajevo, in April 2012, international donors pledged EUR 260 million to support the final concerted effort to close the chapter of displacement from the conflicts of the years 1991-95 and 1999 in Southeastern Europe.
**All reference to Kosovo should be understood in full compliance with United Nations Security Council resolution 1244
For more information in Serbia contact: Ms. Mirjana Milenkovski, [email protected] +381 11 3082 100
For more information in Kosovo contact: Mr. Shpend Halili,
[email protected] +381 38 241 509
+381 38 241 509+381 38 241 509+381 38 241 509
For more information in Montenegro contact: Ms. Darka Minic,
[email protected] +382 20 447-422+382 20 447-422+382 20 447-422+382 20 447-422
For more information in Croatia contact: Mr. Dorijan Klasnic,
[email protected] +385 1 3713 599+385 1 3713 599+385 1 3713 599+385 1 3713 599
For more information in Bosnia and Herzegovina contact: Mr. Edad Memic,
[email protected] +387 33 290 318+387 33 290 318+387 33 290 318+387 33 290 318
For more information in Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia contact: Ms. Aneta Galic, [email protected] +389 2 3118641+389 2 3118641+389 2 3118641+389 2 3118641
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
