SERBIA: REFUGEE COORDINATOR WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT APRIL

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BELGRADE 000428 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PBTS PHUM PREL SR KV PREF SUBJECT: SERBIA: REFUGEE COORDINATOR WEEKLY ACTIVITY REPORT APRIL 21-24, 2008 BELGRADE 00000428 001.2 OF 002 UNHCR HARD HIT by FALLING DOLLAR -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Budget woes were a principal concern of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Deputy Director for Europe Udo Janz in a April 23 meeting with refcoord to discuss UNHCR next steps in the Balkans. Janz said that the falling dollar had resulted in a $14-million loss for UNHCR's Europe Bureau in 2008. Enumerating other changes in the UNHCR budget and accounting process, Udo said that local staff salaries now must come out of country office budgets, further reducing operating and program resources. Janz said it would be challenging to aim for durable solutions for refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Balkans in 2009 and 2010 under these budget constraints, particularly when "the time to push hardest is now and we need to transition out." He said it would be disastrous to close country offices now, with far-reaching initiatives like the Common European Asylum Policy expected to be resolved in 2012. Udo said that the most effective mechanism to counter these budget challenges was extra-budgetary USG and European Commission contributions targeting specific programs such as legal assistance, prevention of statelessness, and local integration. Such targeted assistance, he said, allows country offices to program staffing and account for staff expenses against specific programs. ¶2. (SBU) Janz told refcoord that he planned to spotlight Serbia as a case study for protracted refugee situations at the June UNHCR Executive Committee meeting. He said he would also appeal to UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Craig Johnstone for help on the exchange rate loss. Janz asked PRM to consider leveraging other sources of USG funding, including DRL and USAID for maximum impact. Kosovo Ministry: Discreet Integration of IDPS OKAY -------------- -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Janz told refcoord he had had a constructive meeting, April 22, with Serbia's Kosovo Ministry State Secretary Dusan Prorokovic. According to Janz, Prorokovic described Serb returns to Kosovo as nearly nonexistent, citing high costs of returns programs, lack of employment opportunities in Kosovo for returnees, and politics as the primary obstacles to return. Janz said Prorokovic expected a maximum of an additional 2,000 Kosovo Serbs to return, mainly to North Mitrovica. According to Janz, Prorokovic said the Ministry would seek quietly to integrate in Serbia the majority of internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Kosovo. He told Janz that the Serbian Commissioner for Refugees' official figure of 206,071 IDPs residing in Serbia was too high, guessing the real number was closer to 160,000. Nonetheless, he said, it would be political suicide to conduct a re-registration of IDPs at this point and prove the number to be lower. (Note: The Government of Serbia has for years refused to conduct a re-registration of IDPs, independent of a formal census in Kosovo.) According to Janz, Prorokovic agreed that UNHCR should focus on integrating IDPs in Serbia, discreetly and out of the political spotlight. DIVAC ORGANIZATION ANNOUNCES REFUGEE, IDP PROGRAMS -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Snezana Divac, President of the Humanitarian Organization Divac (HOD),announced at a press conference on April 21 that the organization had collected over one million euros in contributions from the GOS and private sector donations in what she described as the "the largest humanitarian initiative ever organized by Serbs in Serbia." Divac said that the HOD had already provided shelter to 100 displaced families and planned to build homes for approximately 6,000 refugees and IDPs currently living in collective centers in Serbia. ¶4. (U) The organization has joined forces with the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees, and select municipalities, and, Divac announced, would work with BELGRADE 00000428 002.2 OF 002 UNHCR to implement the project. She expected the HOD-built homes would cost 8,000 euros, each. Beneficiaries could own their homes as long as they held the property for at least five years. All major media outlets covered the press conference. Vlade Divac (former NBA basketball player),representatives of UNHCR, the Ministry for Labor and Social Welfare and the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees attended. BRUSH