Ursula Läubli, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Serbia visited two asylum centers in Tutin and Sjenica, where she spoke with asylum seekers about current situation and their plans for the future.
The Swiss government provides bilateral expertise and financial support to the Government of the Republic of Serbia in the process of migration management within the framework of Migration Partnership, signed in 2009. The main partners of Switzerland in the area of migration are the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Government of Serbia.
On the visit to Sjenica and Tutin, Director of the Swiss Cooperation Office stated:
“I was pleased to see that the reception of migrants in the asylum centers has advanced and that the migrants are well accepted in the host communities. The role of our main partner, the Serbian Commissariat for refugees and migration, is of great importance for the overall migration management in Serbia. Swiss expertise, know-how and technical support has been available to the Commissariat as to improve the daily management of the centers and to gradually advance the standards of the services. Key was to reinforce Commissariat’s capacities in legal expertise, Data management/IT and migrant assistance. I was pleased to see that the migrants are provided with different tailor made services from the assisted voluntary return to Serbian language classes. Also, I met some dedicated staff working in the centers and affiliated NGOs and this shows us our migration partnership with Serbia is moving well.”
The Swiss-Serbian Migration Partnership 2016-2019, amounting to 2 million Euros, continuously supports the systematic strengthening of state capacities for migration management in the Republic of Serbia. Within the framework of the partnership, the project “Support to migration management system” is being implemented with the value of 720.000 Euros. The main project partners are the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
