Around 100 IDPs returned to Kosovo this year

Kosovo Minister for Communities and Return Dalibor Jevtic said Friday that 108 internally displaced persons (IDPs) returned to Kosovo in the course of this year, adding that a higher rate of returns requires cooperation between Pristina and Belgrade institutions.

(kosovocompromisestuff) Saturday, July 26, 2014

From January to June 2014, 108 IDPs returned to Kosovo, while 177 have started the return process and new houses are expected to be built for them over the next three weeks, Jevtic told Tanjug, adding that this will increase the number of returnees to 285.He pointed to several obstacles that stand in the way of a higher return rate, underlining the need for cooperation between the institutions of Belgrade and Pristina, which in the previous period did not take place."A major obstacle on the ground is the issue of usurped property, which the judicial bodies and institutions do not address. There is also the economic aspect that affects the IDPs decision to return to Kosovo, and occasional security problems, primarily in kosovo,” said Jevtic.Head of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo Marko Djuric recently said that the rate of returns of IDPs from Kosovo is unsatisfactory and should be approached in a new way.Figures released by the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration in June say that Serbia currently has a population of 204,042 IDPs.According to figures released by the UNHCR on June 13, there are more than 17,000 IDPs within Kosovo.