The meeting of trustees of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration of the Republic of Serbia, titled Regional Housing Program, took place in Sabac from 29 February to 2 March of 2016.

Numerous guests from partner neighboring countries, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro, as well as the representatives of the international and domestic community, the Council of Europe Development Bank representatives, discussed how to successfully finalize this housing program for about 74,000 refugees from the war-affected areas throughout the region.

Submitting a report on what has been done in the past year, Commissioner Vladimir Cucić was extremely critical, noting that this is the last year for the closure of collective refugee centers in Serbia. The official number of persons accommodated in collective centers has decreased in the past year for nearly nine thousand, and Commissioner Cucić promised that this work will be completed as quickly as possible.
 
The current migrant crisis, which also affects the whole region, could not be bypassed. Although he believes that migrant crisis must not be an excuse for not solving the status of refugees from the former Yugoslavia, Cucic recalled how much effort and hard work was invested by the Commissariat for Refugees in solving problems related to the increased migration, thanking all employees.

 

Speaking about regional housing program, a representative of the Development Bank of the Council of Europe, Igor Burazin, said that the progress in the implementation of the program is "big and significant", donors want to "all the money in the Fund be spended" (around 290 million), and to "see how people move into their homes, throughout the country."

"The cooperation with Commissioner Vladimir Cucic and director of the Project Management Unit, Goran Kvrgić is extraordinary. Deadlines for completion of the program are very, very short. We do not know whether there will be an extension of the deadline, but we’re working as if it will not be extended, "said Burazin, adding to the present representatives of municipalities:" We are counting on you, without you we are not able to achieve that."

Three-day event started with a quality and very well attended workshop on the implementation of RHP, during which the trustees and representatives of the municipal governments discussed on all disputes and contentious issues that they were faced with during the implementation of RHP in practice. In the working session on the second day about the progress on the implementation of the RHP in the region, representatives of the countries in the region, representatives of the international organizations, as well as the representatives from the Project Management Unit and technical support to the RHP, has spoked.