Government calls for dialogue and support in addressing refugee and displacement issue

“The displacement issue has a long history in Montenegro. During the 1990s, Montenegro provided shelter for around 57,000 displaced persons from former Yugoslav republics,” Minister of Labour and Social Welfare Suad Numanovic told a roundtable on “Human rights and solving the issue of refugees and displaced persons” on Tuesday.

“After the outbreak of conflict in Kosovo in 1998, another wave of displaced persons rushed to Montenegro. In May 1999, the total number of displaced persons in the country reached 130,000, which accounted for one quarter of Montenegro’s population,” the Minister said, adding that the Montenegrin government has always been committed to finding lasting and sustainable solutions for displaced persons.

The minister underlined that Montenegro is now home to around 10,700 internally displaced persons from Kosovo and another 5,200 from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia.

He stressed that the Government has introduced a series of regulations safeguarding the fundamental rights of displaced persons and refugees, including the settlement of their legal status, their integration into the society and safeguards for the right to voluntary return to their home counties.

More specifically, displaced persons have been granted the status of foreign nationals with permanent residence in Montenegro and offered integration into the society thorough free access to employment, social security, education, health and pension insurance.

The roundtable focused in particular on the government’s draft action plan for resolving the issue of Camp Konik, the largest camp for displaced persons in Montenegro. The plan provides for three options, namely voluntary return of displaced persons to their home countries, integration into the Montenegrin society and departure to third countries.

This issue, the minister said, calls for a regional approach and financial support from the international community.

“Montenegro takes good care of human and minority rights,” Human and Minority Rights Minister Ferhat Dinosha told the roundtable, adding however that improvements are still needed in some areas in order to fully meet European and international standards.

According to Minister Dinosha, now that relevant legal regulations are in place, the government needs to focus on consistent implementation of the adopted legislation.

He also said that the Roma inclusion policy is giving visible results, and that the coming period calls for more focus on gender equality.

The human rights minister concluded that the European Commission’s assessment will serve only as a starting point from which Montenegro will progress in these areas. He proposed additional measures for the strengthening of the role of the Ombudsman and for more efficient application of anti-discrimination measures, which are both included in the Action Plan as he said, adding that Montenegro will be guided by European examples and good practice in securing the individual rights of the LGBT population, the Roma, the disabled persons and children.