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


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UNHCR HARD HIT by FALLING DOLLAR

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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

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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

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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

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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