According to the latest data, in Serbia, without Kosovo and Metohija, there are 199.584 internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija, Tanjug news agency reported.
Out of this number, 68.514 persons, respectively 16.644 families are in state of need, they do not have housing solution and adequate incomes to provide such housing.
Earlier announced visit of internally displaced persons from Djakovica to the Monastery of the Assumption of the Most Holy Mother of God, on the eve of the monastery celebration on August 28, was cancelled due to security reasons, the president of Djakovica citizens Association, Djokica Stanojevic confirmed to RTK2.
Stanojevic stresses that the arrival of around 2,000 displaced persons from Djakovica to their hometown was prevented by an atmosphere of hatred, which, as he said, have prevailed in the past days.
The founder of the Humanitarian Law Center, Natasa Kandic, called on Kosovo President Hashim Thaci to allow Serbs from Djakovica to visit the church this year.
"On this occasion, please personally engage so that the Serbs from Djakovica on August 28, 2018, visit the church and their homes and them not to be exposed to humiliation as the previous year," said Kandic in an open letter published in the Belgrade based daily Danas.
Each year on June 20 the United Nations, United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and countless civic groups around the world host World Refugee Day events in order to draw the public's attention to the millions of refugees and Internally displaced persons worldwide who have been forced to flee their homes due to war, conflict and persecution.
Internally displaced persons living in collective centres in Brezovica are without electricity for two weeks, Milan Janjic confirmed to KIM Radio, adding there are no indications electricity supply would be restored any time soon.
Electricity was cut off to the four collective centres two weeks ago, over unpaid electricity invoices.
Milan Janjic internally displaced person from Urosevac recalled that Strpce Municipality together with the Ministry for Communities and Returns were trying to find a solution, but apart from the media no one came to visit them.
The electricity in collective centres in Brezovica was cut off over unpaid debts from 10 years ago, KIM Radio reported.
There are around 300 displaced persons living in the four collective centres in Brezovica.
Milan Janjic, displaced person from Urosevac told RTV KIM the electricity was cut off this morning around 9.00.
Every month Commissariat is paying for one portion, while we pay the exceeding portion. Now they talk about some debts from 10 years ago and that is why they cut off the electricity,” Janjic said.
Around 50 Albanians blocked with vehicles access to the Serbian Orthodox Church Holly Trinity in the village of Petric, disallowing displaced Serbs from this village to mark today's holiday, the church is named after, Radio Gorazdevac learned.
High number of Kosovo Police members is also present on the spot.
A group of displaced Serbs from the village was supposed to visit today the remains of a demolished church and a graveyard in the village.
The Basic Court in Pristina ordered detention up to 30 days to Dejan Slavic from Obilic on suspicion of allegedly committing a war crime against the civilian population during the Kosovo conflict, reports Serbian media.
Lawyer Nebojsa Vlajic, defense attorney for the arrested Slavic, told RTS that he received the court's decision on detention and that late on he would be able to give more details.
Serbian national broadcaster, RTS continues its serial “Pravo na sutra” focusing on usurped Serb properties in Kosovo, featuring some of the cases.
According to RTS, more than a million of land plots in Kosovo and Metohija are usurped. There are assessments saying that more than 35.000 residential units were destroyed. While displaced Serbs from Kosovo wait to repossess their properties, they are being further destroyed and falsely sold.
Kosovo Assembly members adopted some time ago a law on taxation, stipulating owners of usurped properties in Kosovo will not pay taxes until they are able to use their properties again, Serbian national broadcaster RTS reported.
Displaced Serbs from Kosovo and Metohija are facing property issues for many years. While some of them managed to get repossession of their properties with the help of Free Legal Aid, several thousand of property cases are still open. RTS featured some of them.