On the 28 and 29 October 2009 the Danish Refugee Council held a conference on “Housing and Property Restitution for displaced persons: The Way Ahead” in Belgrade. 70 people participated.

On 28 and 29 October 2009 the Danish Refugee Council held a conference on “Housing and Property Restitution for displaced persons: The Way Ahead” in Belgrade. Participants included representatives of the Serbian government, institutions dealing with refugees and IDPs as well as international and non governmental organizations.

The conference marked the completion of the “Legal Assistance Programme”, an 18-month long EU-funded technical assistance programme which has focused on assisting internally-displaced persons and vulnerable groups from Kosovo to repossess and to protect their property-related rights through the provision of legal aid and information. In conjunction with this the programme has also been aiming at building the capacities of the Government of Serbia in this field.

Nearly one thousand internally displaced persons from Kosovo have been provided with legal assistance and representation before local courts during the past 18 months.

For two days local and international experts debated the challenges that the IDPs and refugees in Serbia face to restore their property rights in their places of origin. The experts also provided recommendations for future course of action.

The conference provided important updates to the findings, analyses and recommendations formulated by the OSCE in 2007. Three panel discussions focused on issues connected to property restitution through mass claim mechanisms, compensation for destroyed properties and obstacles to enforcing property rights through Kosovo judicial and non judicial bodies. Finally, practices from the region and other post-conflict situations were illustrated and lessons drawn from the programme experience were presented.

 

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