14 September 2010 - Representatives of the EU in the Republic of Serbia, the government of AP Vojvodina, the Commissariat for Refugees, Ministry of Labour and Social Politics, International Organization for Migration and the city of Sremska Mitrovica, presided over the ceremonial opening of a building in Sremska Mitrovica intended for use as social housing in protected conditions. The apartment building containing 34 housing units is intended for use by refugee and internally displaced persons as well as those families from the territory of the city of Sremska Mitrovica who are considered as being socially vulnerable. The construction of the aforementioned housing units represents one of the components of the project, “Support to Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia,” and is being financed on behalf of the European Union through the instrument of IPA 2007. The project which is valued at 9.5 million euros provides durable solutions to 1,200 families of refugee and internally displaced persons on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. 

This component of the project in Sremska Mitrovica was undertaken by the instituting partner of the Commissariat for Refugees – the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in cooperation with the city of Sremska Mitrovica. 

The investment value of constructing and equipping the building in Sremska Mitrovica amounts to a total of 532,000 euros. The city of Sremska Mitrovica participated in the project by donating the plot of land for the construction of the building, providing the necessary supporting infrastructure and further allowing the new construction to be connected to the existing infrastructural network. 
The ceremonial opening of the building was attended by Mr. Adriano Martins, the deputy chief of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Serbia, Mr. Bojan Pajtić, President of the government of AP Vojvodina, Mr. Rasim Ljajić, the Minister of Labour and Social Politics, Mrs. Svetlana Velimirović, the deputy Commissioner for Refugees, Mr. Branislav Nedimović, major of the city of Sremska Mitrovica, and Mr. Gregoire Goodstein, chief of the International Organization for Migration mission in the Republic of Serbia.

The deputy Commissioner for Refugees Mrs. Svetlana Velimirović, expressed, on behalf of the Commissariat for Refugees, her gratitude to the delegation of the EU in the Republic of Serbia for their continued support in providing durable solutions for refugee and internally displaced persons as well as for their assistance in the fulfilment of the prerequisite conditions for entry into the EU, adding that the Republic of Serbia remains deeply committed to providing durable and lasting solutions for refugees and to the improvement of the living conditions of internally displaced persons. “The Commissariat for Refugees is succeeding, despite conditions of global economic hardship, in providing the means necessary to house and financially bolster those who depend upon our assistance,” stated Mrs. Svetlana Velimirović, and referred those in attendance to the fact that the Commissariat for Refugees has either through their budgetary resources, or else in cooperation with the Delegation of the European Union in the Republic of Serbia and the UNHCR, managed to provide for the accommodation requirements and economic empowerment of some 3,700 families of refugees and internally displaced persons from the territories of approximately 139 municipalities and cities in the Republic of Serbia.