MSP: Serbia does not accept UNHCR recommendation

BELGRADE - Serbia does not accept the recommendation of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) on the cessation of refugee status of refugees from Croatia and will continue to provide full protection and support to all refugees in its territory, Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MSP) released on Friday.

UNHCR issued a recommendation earlier on Friday for the process of ceasing refugee status of refugees displaced from Croatia to begin, citing that “almost 20 years after the conflict in the former Yugoslavia ended, the circumstances that triggered displacement have fundamentally changed”.

The UNHCR recommendation does not apply to witnesses of war crimes and internally displaced persons.

Serbia will continue to give maximum contribution to the creation of permanent and sustainable solutions for the position of refugees, and the responsibility for the consequences of the decision to end the refugee status of refugees from Croatia will lie entirely with UNHCR, states the release.

As MSP points out, UNHCR made the decision without consulting the UN member states and despite explicit opposition from Serbia, as the country with the highest number of refugees from Croatia (41,861).

Serbia has on several occasions and at the highest levels in the UN expressed unequivocal opposition to the UNHCR initiative to make an unfounded and obviously political decision, having in mind that sustainable solutions for the position of refugees have not been reached, especially regarding their sustainable return to Croatia, MSP states in the release.

The consequences for the relations in the region have also been pointed out, including the implementation of the Regional Housing Program, initiated by...

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