Project Office: Francuska 5, Belgrade, Toll Free 0800 108 208 info@pravnapomoc.org

Slide FREE CALL Returnees and IDPs interested in support or information on how to exercise their rights can contact our legal team at the toll-free number 0800 108 208 Slide SUPPORT OF THE EUROPEAN UNION The European Union project "Better Access to Justice for IDPs and Returnees" will last for 24 months and represents a continuation of the cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the EU initiated in 2008. Slide LEGAL TEAMS Legal teams provide advice, represent clients in courts in places of origin, obtain documentation from state institutions, and inform clients about their rights.

PROBLEMS INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS AND RETURNEES UPON READMISSION AGREEMENTS ARE FACED WITH:

  • Illegally occupied, damaged or distroyed property in places of origin, so they are unable to return or invest in their future in places they live after the displacement;
  • Inability to exercise the right to severance pay after the privatization of companies where they were employed before the displacement
  • Institutional barriers in acquiring necessary documentation for exercising basic rights (birth certificates, health insurance, citizenship, diploma recognition, linking work experience, pensions, property records…);
  • Safety concerns in places of origin;
  • Challenged integration into social, cultural, and economic currents in the temporary place of residence.

HOW WE HELP?

  • We provide support to those who due to lack of funds, security, or other reasons, are unable to exercise their rights to property or other rights;
  • Support is provided through the work of five legal teams, mobile teams, project website, and a toll-free telephone line;
  • The teams consist of highly qualifies legal professionals who can provide:
    • Necessary information on rights of IDPs and returnees
    • Free legal aid
    • Free legal representation by qualified attorneys aimed at protecting rights, especially property rights, and assistance in recovering unlawfully seized, damaged, or destroyed property

Slide IN 1999, 230,000 SERBS AND NON-ALBANIANS WERE DISPLACED FROM KOSOVO. CURRENTLY, THERE ARE 194,140 INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS (IDPS) IN SERBIA, WITH 16,000 FAMILIES IN NEED. http://www.kirs.gov.rs/docs/Nacionalna%20strategija%20za%20izb%20i%20irl%202015-2020.pdf Slide OUT OF THE TOTAL NUMBER OF IDPS IN SERBIA EXCLUDING KOSOVO, 97,286 MULTIPLE VULNERABLE INDIVIDUALS HAVE BEEN IDENTIFIED IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE TO RESOLVE EXISTENTIAL PROBLEMS. 2 IDP Needs Assessment in Serbia, UNHCR, March 2011, http://www.unhcr.rs/dokumenti/istrazivanja/procena-potreba-interno-raseljenih-lica-srbiji.html Slide IT IS ESTIMATED THAT FEW MILLION PEOPLE WERE DISPLACED DURING THE CONFLICT IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA Slide IT IS ESTIMATED THAT OVER A MILLION PEOPLE LEFT THEIR HOMES DURING THE WARS IN THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA. AFTER THE CONFLICTS ENDED, IN SERBIA ALONE, THERE WERE 537,937 REGISTERED REFUGEES AND 79,791 PERSONS THREATENED BY WAR. TODAY, SERBIA HOSTS AROUND 29,457 REFUGEES. Slide DURING THE WAR, AROUND 100,000 PEOPLE FLED TO EUROPEAN COUNTRIES, AND APPROXIMATELY 40,000 OF THEM RETURNED TO SERBIA. IN ROMA, ASHKALI, AND EGYPTIAN COMMUNITIES, THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF POTENTIAL BENEFICIARIES OF THE PROJECT. Slide THERE ARE SIGNFICANT NUMBERS FROM THE ROMA, ASKALI AND EGYPTIAN COMMUNITIES WITHIN THE GROUPS THAT CAN BE ASSISTED BY THE PROJECT