Antonio Guterres, the UN High Commissar for Refugees has, in the context of his visit to Serbia, met yesterday with the Serbian President Boris Tadić, the Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Jovan Krkobabić, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Vuk Jeremić and the Commissar for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia Vladimir Cucić.

 

After the meeting with the UN High Commissar for Refugees, Boris Tadić stated that Serbia will continue to work towards solving the problem of refugees, by way of building up good relations with its neighbours as well as by continuing the policy of European integration, since he is convinced that this policy is important for solving the refugee issue. “Serbia regards the problems of refugees from Croatia as a mutual problem of two countries and we consider that this solution is of the utmost importance for establishing the best possible relations between Serbia and Croatia and the prerequisite for reconciliation”, and declared that in this regard Serbia wants the cooperation with regional institutions, Croatia and the UNHCR.

 

President Tadić pointed out that the return of refugees to their homes throughout the territory of former Yugoslavia is also a question of “respect for the elementary values of civilisation and the precondition for a final reconciliation of all peoples in these territories”. He emphasised that it is inacceptable that in Serbia, even 17 years after the havoc of war, there are still collective centres in which “people live at the edge of existence”.

 

While speaking about the problem of internally displaced persons, Tadić has expressed his concern about the insufficient return to their homes in Kosovo and Metohija. “We expect that all functioning institutions in KiM contribute to the return of internally displaced persons”, and underlined that attention must be paid to elucidating the fate of missing persons in the region of former Yugoslavia.

 

The UN High Commissar for Refugees noted during the meeting with the Serbian President that the right to return is a basic human right, “but the wish of people must be respected who want to stay in the country to which they have come”. He claimed that it is inacceptable that after so many years after the termination of the war and the conflicts in the Balkans, there is still a considerable number of refugees whose problems have not been solved. Guterres has in particular complimented the Government of the Republic of Serbia on “the support it offers to refugees from Croatia and to internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija”.

 

Deputy Prime Minister Jovan Krkobabić familiarised Guterres with the efforts which Serbia invests in resolving the problems of refugees and the displaced, as well as the numerous problems that Serbs from Croatia face, especially when it comes to the seized properties and flats, secret indictments and the search for a large number of missing Serbs. He noted that these problems in Croatia “are being solved very slowly and that the other side refuses to discuss them”. Krkobabić said that it is important to hold a regional conference addressing the problems of refugees and the displaced.

 

All participating parties have concurred that the most pressing problem in Serbia are the 70 collective centres in which people live for even 15 years now under very difficult conditions. Assistance through a special donor’s fund, which Krkobabić and Guterres have agreed on in Geneva in December 2008, should facilitate the closing of the last collective centre by 2010. Krkobabić underlined that “the most tragic situation is the 210.000 internally displaced persons from KiM”, whereby return is impossible considering the lack of conditions for the realisation of elementary human rights, and called for Guterres to take advantage of the UNHCR’s mandate given through the Resolution 1244 regarding the supervision over return and the aid for internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija.

 

Guterres has complimented the efforts made by the Serbian Government to solve the problems of refugees and displaced persons and expressed his hope that a way will be found on the Croatian part for a more efficient and quicker solution of these problems. He has supported the organising of the regional conference and emphasised that the UN will actively participate in the organisation thereof.

 

During the talks with the UN High Commissar Antonio Guterres, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Vuk Jeremić, stressed that a prompt return of all refugees to Croatia is necessary, as is the return of the internally displaced to KiM. At the meeting it has been established that all refugees and displaced persons must be given the opportunity of a safe return and be enabled to use their property, which they are currently denied.

 

Jeremić and Guterres have both agreed on the necessity of holding an International Conference on resolving the refugee issue in the region, which should be held in Belgrade by the end of the year.