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Statement on the occasion of World Refugee Day, June 20

Belgrade, 20 June 2021 - On World Refugee Day - June 20th, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration reminds the public that the chapter about refugees from the 1990s has unfortunately yet to be closed, and that there are still families out there who need help from the state of Serbia to resolve their housing and become economically empowered.

Since its inception to date, the Commissariat has helped a total of 23,738 families resolve their housing issue, and economically empowered 22,442 families. For the most part, refugees and internally displaced persons have been supported from the budget of the Republic of Serbia.

At the same time, a lot of work is being done to give the most vulnerable families a decent roof over their heads. In the last year, despite the pandemic of the new coronavirus, the Commissariat has supported and cared for more than 2,054 most endangered refugee families as well as displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija.

This year, 475 million dinars has been allocated from the budget of the Republic of Serbia to help people who have lost everything through no fault of their own and who today live in other people's houses and apartments. The money will provide housing for at least 800 more families.

Refugees from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina have been significantly assisted by donor funds, mostly from the European Union, through the Regional Housing Program.

During the last year, beneficiaries in Mionica, Sombor, Kikinda, Mali Crnić moved into new apartments; Žabari, Krupanj, Valjevo, Bački Petrovac, Bačka Palanka, Sevojno, Požarevac, Novi Pazar, Svilajnac, Irig, Sremska Mitrovica ... 169 families got a roof over their heads in Stara Pazova, and an apartment complex with 275 apartments in Novi Sad now has new tenants. The same work continued this year, 40 families moved in Zrenjanin, 20 Kruševac, 60 in Loznica ... and it continues with Čajetina, Kučevo, Bački Petrovac, Pančevo, Smederevo, Vršac, Aranđelovac. By the end of the year we expect that 152 apartments in Futog get their new tenants.

As part of the Regional Housing Program, which is coming to an end, more than five and a half thousand families have been provided with a roof over their heads so far. Through negotiations with donors and partners in this Program, the Commissariat provided funding for an additional 2,200 housing solutions for refugees.

The needs remain high and the Commissariat continues to operate to address them, as it is working intensively to launch a similar donor program for some 200,000 internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija who also need assistance in securing a decent home.

On World Refugee Day, June 20, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration would like to thank all partners in the country, international organizations, the NGO sector and especially donors, for their support and the funds they have invested to improve the lives of the refugee population, as well as the living conditions of migrants and asylum seekers. We remain fully committed to the mission of strengthening stability and peace in the Balkans.