Source: APC

Belgrade, 08/29/2022 – Apart from the Asian and African refugees, those from Ukraine have also been coming to Serbia since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, more than 90,000 people from Ukraine entered Serbia, and more than 16,600 people registered their staying in Serbia.

The refugees from Ukraine are mostly in private accommodation and are trying to get by and they need help.

We consider it is very important that refugees from Ukraine stay in urban areas, and not in isolated camps, where they can be more easily helped to find employment, obtain health care and care in other spheres, make social contacts and integrate into society more easily. Now, after the initial serious systemic problems, and with our concrete interventions on the field and in the institutions, they are getting a temporary protection decision relatively quickly, gaining access to the labor market, and getting health care. That is good, but it is just the beginning and we have to keep doing it.

With the beginning of school year, the issue of including Ukrainian children in the education system also opens, which is also a new challenge for everyone in the system, and especially for local schools.

The biggest number of Ukrainian refugees live in areas that have not been encountering refugees from Asia and Africa more intensively in previous years, so local institutions in the same areas are now being tested and must be especially engaged in providing protection and assistance.

The system must consider supporting the refugees from Ukraine in covering accommodation expenses if they are in private accommodation, outside the camps, because this is the only way for these people to successfully and sustainably get accepted and integrated into the local community.