Presevo, Bujanovac, Medvedja – Serbian citizens that were returned from EU countries in the readmission process and who have the official confirmation of this will, as of this year, be able to count on the support of the German NGO "Help", which, as part of the "Migration Management and Support to the Return of Asylum Seekers" project, has a budget of nearly three million euros for these purposes, said Bane Stanojkovic, the Head of the “Help” office" in Vranje.  

Mr. Stanojkovic said for the “Beta” news agency that the funds for the project were determined based on data of the Republican Commissariat for Refugees, which were collected during the official registration of returnees at the airport or bus station in Belgrade, as well as that the southern Serbian municipalities were near the top of the list when it comes to the number of  returnees in the readmission process.  

"In order to be eligible for assistance, it does not matter whether you had spent five months or five years in the country from where you were returned, but only that you were officially returned from there, for which you must have an airport seal or the receipt of return bus ticket that was paid by the state from which you were returned. All those who, during the readmission process, have been returned to Serbia since 2007, when the readmission agreement was signed, will have such a right, "Mr. Stanojkovic said.

According to him, the project is aimed at supporting the reintegration process of returnees, improving the living conditions of vulnerable families, creating employment opportunities by encouraging entrepreneurship, helping with additional training, as well as at providing assistance with the reconstruction of houses and providing assistance with the inclusion of children in the education system.

According to the data of the Commissariat for Refugees, 1,891 returnees were registered at  Belgrade airport in 2017, of which most were from the southern Serbian municipalities, 67 from Bujanovac, 63 from Vranje and 20 from Presevo. 

In 2016, the Office of the Commissariat for Refugees at Belgrade airport registered almost twice as many returnees in the readmission process – 3,655 people, while in 2015, 2.866 people were returned from EU countries by plane.

Source: “Beta” news agency and Coordination Body