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PRESENTED REPORT ON LEGAL ISSUES AND STATUS OF REFUGEES

The report “Support to refugees though ” was presented in a panel discussion we organized on November 3, 2021 in Belgrade.

The event was opened by the Assistant Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Igor Popović by emphasizing the importance of the project in empowering target groups. The project expert for cooperation with local communities and the author of the report Maja Simeonovska presented an analysis of the most common legal problems of refugees from Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as possible solutions that could enable their integration and realization of basic human rights.

One of the panelists was Ružica Banda, a representative of the OSCE Mission to Serbia, who presented the Regional Housing Program and the results the program has achieved so far.

“The fact is that refugees are in one country and claim their rights in another or have to obtain relevant evidence in order to have access to rights in the country in which they are integrating. This includes monitoring the development of the legal system in the surrounding countries. Since these are mostly vulnerable groups, that is not possible, and they do not have the legal education to see to it themselves. So legal aid is still necessary, especially in terms of informing users on how to exercise their rights and which are the competent authorities both in Serbia and in the countries of origin, as well as for obtaining the necessary documentation”, said Ružica Banda on this occasion.

The Legal Advisor of the project Dragan Gavrilović presented at the gathering some examples from the field that the legal team of the project has met so far.

In addition to the representatives of the project and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, the meeting was also attended by representatives of the refugee association, UNHCR and the Ecumenical Humanitarian Organization (EHO).

The thematic reports are one of the activities of the project’s team and associates in the field of human rights protection of IDPs, refugees and returnees upon readmission agreements. These reports, aiming to shed the light on the most frequent problems of the targeted groups and propose potential solution, are regularly discussed at thematic working groups-panel discussions.