The exhibition on the occasion of the World Day of Refugees and Displaced Persons presented at the Center for Civil Energy in Gracanica presented photographs of residents of collective centers in Gracanica, Leposavic, Zvecan and Strpce. The faces photographed express worries, sadness but also hope. That’s all they have left. The author of photography is a cameraman and photojournalist of the portal gracanicaonline.info, Vladislav Cup.
It is necessary to take care about refugees and displaced persons every day, this was the goal of this exhibition and cooperation of the Forum for Development and Multi-ethnic Cooperation and UNHCR, said at the opening of the exhibition with the symbolic name “What’s left for me” on the occasion of the World Refugee Day.
The photos portray some of the stories of people from the container settlements in Kosovo. There are many stories and each one is difficult in itself. Driven with those stories and the inhuman conditions in which both adults and children live for a long time, the Forum for Development and Multi-ethnic Cooperation (FDMC) has begun cooperation with UNHCR.
”It is necessary to talk about them and their problems every day in order to find a solution to their problems… especially those in the container settlement, which are completely forgotten, with the hope that we will animate all the competent institutions to react and help their problems to be solved,” says FDMC director Dejan Radivojevic, pointing out that precisely his organization contributed to the European report for Kosovo and that this organisation is the first Serbian organization that is a UNHCR partner in Kosovo.
According to the head of the UNHCR mission in Pristina, Erol Arduca, for many years in Kosovo was talked about the problem of displaced persons, but it was not achieved what UNHCR desired.
“The strength of one society can be measured based on the attention that this society dedicates to people in need of help. Kosovo has been talking about the problem of displaced for years, but we still have not arrived where we wanted when this problem is in question. The problem of displaced persons is enormous, and we do not have any international instruments for their resolution,” Arduc said, noting that he himself was a refugee and perfectly understood their suffering.
Sweden’s ambassador to Pristina, Karin Hernmarck, stressed the importance of the World Day for Refugees and Displaced Persons. She said that Sweden signed an agreement last year to support UNHCR.
The UK Government is one of the largest donors for the return process to Kosovo, said the Ambassador of the United Kingdom, Ruairí O’Connell, at the exhibition, promising that this practice will continue.
“It is very important that every refugee and displaced person return to his home, to the country from which he/she escaped. We know that the process is complex and difficult, but we have not forgotten you, “said O’Connell, addressing the present residents of the collective settlements.
