The Poverty Reduction Committee held its tenth sitting on 30 June in the form of a public hearing on the Draft Law amending and modifying the Refugee Law and human rights of refugees and internally displaced persons.

Opening the public debate, the Poverty Reduction Committee Chairperson, Snezana Stojanovic Plavsic, warned that in the conditions of the economic crisis there is a risk that the number of poverty stricken citizens may double, and named displaced persons as one of the most endangered groups. That is why solving the issue of refugees and displaced persons shall be one of the biggest challenges for the Serbian authorities, Stojanovic Plavsic added.

Welcoming those present, National Assembly Deputy Speaker Judita Popovic, stressed that the right to housing and right to childhood are two basic rights compromised by war and refugee status. The National Assembly deals with the position of children and their rights systematically and thoroughly. Deputy Speaker Popovic added that the Children’s Rights Working Group, chaired by the National Assembly Speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, had been formed to this end.

The Head of the UNHCR Representative Office for Serbia, Lennart Kotsalainnen, stressed that UNHCR’s main focus is to put an end to the refugee chapter in Serbia and close the collective centres, adding that Serbia is one of five countries where finding a long-term solution for the refugee crisis is a priority. He said that UNHCR and the Serbian Government have made considerable efforts to register those who wish to return to the province and that so far 800 families had expressed such a wish, adding that it was up to the Kosovo Government to provide the minimum conditions to receive these persons.

Walter Kelin, UN GA Special Representative on Human Rights, Bojan Andjelkovic, Assistant Minister for Kosovo-Metohija, Thomas Nyoki, Head of the Policy and Information Sector of the European Commission Delegation in Serbia, Danilo Rakic, Group 484, Vladimir Cucic, Serbian Commissioner for Refugees and Vladimir Petronijevic, UNDP consultant on the project “Inclusion of civil society into the creation of poverty reduction policy” financed by the European Commission, took part in the public hearing.

During the debate, it was pointed out that Serbia has 97,000 registered refugees and about 200,000 internally displaced persons, a large number of which live in poverty. The participants agreed that the return of refugees and internally displaced persons has so far proved to be an unsatisfactory process, making the engagement of the international community and organisations, competent authorities of the Republic of Serbia and other subjects necessary in order to create the appropriate conditions for the return. In addition to the need to form a council for the rights of refugees and displaced persons on the government level, it was noted that the laws on social housing and refugees need to be harmonised so as to overcome the problems regarding apartment buyout, and it was recommended that a new Refugee Law should be passed urgently.