UNHCR: Standing with Refugees

Belgrade, 20 June 2017

Belgrade, 20 June 2017 – Today, as we mark World Refugee Day, we are concerned that the number of forcibly displaced persons around the globe has risen to an unprecedented 65.6 million. The number of refugees amongst them has grown by a shocking 1.2 million to 22.5 million.

“On World Refugee Day, we honour the resilience and courage of more than 65 million people who have been forced to flee war, persecution and violence. But it’s also a moment to recognise those communities and people around the world who receive refugees and the internally displaced in their midst, offering them a safe place, and welcoming them in their schools, their workplaces and their societies,” stated the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Fillipo Grandi.

Protecting, assisting and facilitating solutions to the plight of those who had to flee their homes because of war or persecution remains an important act of responsibility-sharing amongst states.

“Today we thank the people, Government and authorities of Serbia, as well as all donors and other stakeholders, who ensure that our communities remain hospitable to forcibly displaced people, that Serbia continues playing an exemplary role in this international solidarity of protecting and assisting them,” stated Hans Friedrich Schodder, the Representative of the UN Refugee Agency in Serbia.

Over the past three decades, Serbia protected and assisted more than 600,000 refugees from former Yugoslavia, over 200,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo*, and since 2015, close to one million refugees - mainly from Syria, Iraq, and Afghanistan - who securely passed through Serbia in their search for a new life in safety and dignity.

As Serbia continues integrating the refugees of the 1990’s, especially through accelerated implementation of the Regional Housing Project, the UN Refugee Agency draws attention to the urgent need to restitute or compensate IDPs for the properties they lost when they had to flee Kosovo*, to remove obstacles to their voluntary return and to increase targeted investments for reintegration in displacement of those unable or unwilling to return, including many extremely vulnerable Roma IDPs.

Some 6,300 new refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants, 53% of which women and children, remain in Serbia today, most having been here between six and eighteen months. “The UN Refugee Agency complements the efforts of authorities to ensure that all of them enjoy access to shelter, freedom of movement, food, medical care and other basic services. Together with other stakeholders we will continue to strongly support Serbia to further stabilize their situation. Children should return to school and, to save them and their generous host communities from a protracted situation, adults should be occupied while lawful and sustainable solutions to their plight are identified swiftly” added Mr. Schodder.

High Commissioner Grandi reminds us that “Having lost their homes, their work, and sometimes their families - refugees don’t give up - they find a way to start again. Striving to belong, and to contribute, they reach out to their new neighbours, building connections, and creating new opportunities. Given the right environment, our experience is that refugees bring solutions, not problems.”

Thank you for standing #WithRefugees! Today is the day to sign the petition (http://www.unhcr.org/refugeeday/sr/).