The OSCE Mission in Kosovo, with the help of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is organizing a preparatory meeting today in Pristina for the technical working group to find sustainable solutions for displaced persons from Kosovo. Representatives of the governments in Belgrade, Podgorica, Pristina and Skopje will present the priorities and action plans for sustainable solutions for displaced persons from Kosovo and together with representatives of international organizations shall agree on the next steps in the context of this initiative.

BELGRADE - Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic and the new representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Belgrade Hans Friedrich Schodder discussed on Thursday the issue of displaced persons in Serbia and the implementation of the Regional Housing Program for refugees.

The two officials expressed their support for a further cooperation between Serbia and the UNHCR in resolving the issues of long-term displacement, statelessness and a large increase in asylum seekers, the Serbian Foreign Ministry said in a release.

Minister of Internal Affairs, Skender Hyseni met on Wednesday with the UNHCR Chief of Mission in Kosovo, Narasimha Rao. Hyseni and Rao discussed the cooperation between the Ministry of Internal Affairs and UNHCR, with special emphasis on the process of re-integration of the people of Kosovo, as well as the conditions of asylum seekers in Kosovo. Hyseni thanked UNHCR chief for the support given so far to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and pledged that this cooperation continue in the future.

The spokesperson of the UNHCR in Hungary, Erno Shimun, said on Thursday that migration of Kosovo people has to do with the escape from poverty. He said that the solution of this issue should be discussed at the European level. "According to our experience, migration of Kosovo people has to do with poverty," said Shimun. So for this reason, he said that authorities in Hungary have decided not to give asylum to Kosovars.

The outgoing head of the UNHCR Joe Hegenauer and Minister for Communities and Returns Dalibor Jevtic believe that more money is needed for the return of displaced persons to Kosovo.

Jevtic and Hegenauer talked about the return of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian communities from the camps in Macedonia and Montenegro.

The two officials agreed that additional funds are needed for continuation of the project, because, as they said, there are other families that are interested in returning to Kosovo, the ministry statement said.

Twelve families of Egyptian community repatriated from Montenegro received on Monday keys to their new homes in the village of Klinafc, Klina municipality. Their houses were constructed with funds from European Union, while the project was implemented by Klina Municipality and UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

At the Kosovo level, there is still high refusal from the receiving community to agree to the return of displaced persons mainly of Roma and Serb communities. The return records in municipalities show that the majority of cases where returns were not possible to be implemented are due to the refusal of Albanian community to receive former neighbours.

Acting Minister of Returns and Communities, Dalibor Jevtic, stressed that rule of law should be a priority and that the right to return to one’s property is guaranteed through Kosovo laws and its Constitution.