Serbia has 35,000 refugees, more than 200k IDPs

Serbia has 35,000 refugees, more than 200k IDPs

During the 1991-1995 wars, a total of 618,000 people found shelter in Serbia, and 35,295 people currently have the refugee status in the country, the Commissariat said.

However, the number of refugees who still have not solved basic needs is far higher, while more than 203,000 internally displaced persons from Kosovo and Metohija and 18,000 internally displaced in Kosovo itself share the same destiny.

Over more than 20 years, only 144,000 refugees returned to their countries of origin - 75,000 to Bosnia-Herzegovina and 69,000 to Croatia, while only five percent of internally displaced came back to KiM.

The Commissariat cautions that, as a transit country, Serbia faces a flow of asylum seekers from war-affected countries of Asia and Africa, whose number is constantly on the rise.

Only this year, 22,182 persons sought asylum in Serbia, while 5,770 asked for accommodation, the Commissariat noted, adding that Serbia is intensively working on promoting the asylum system in accordance with EU standards and laws.