UNHCR Kosovo* update

March 2016
Refugees/migrants developments in March

Highlights
50,364
Refugees and migrants
present in Greece on the
mainland and on islands

1,220
Refugees and migrants
present in FYROM

1,700

According to the UN Refugee Agency more than one million

refugees traveled to Greece since the start of 2015, mostly
refugees from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. UNHCR called this
milestone an urgent reminder of the need for a more coordinated
approach to managing the influx and protecting people who are fleeing
war and persecution. The 5-year conflict has fueled the worst
humanitarian crisis of our time, with 4.8 million Syrians forced to seek
refuge in neighbouring countries and a further 6.6 million displaced inside
the country.

UNHCR organised a high-level conference on refugees from

Syria on 30th March in Geneva with representatives of 92
countries together with governmental and non-governmental
organizations. The focus of the gathering was the need for expanded,
multi-year programmes of resettlement and other forms of humanitarian
admission, including involving countries that till now have not been
involved in such initiatives. High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo
Grandi, said that UNHCR estimates that some 480,000 resettlement
places for Syrians may be needed before the end of 2018.

Refugees and migrants

present in Serbia

A Syrian
refugee
hugs her
daughter
after
reaching
the shores
of Lesvos
island

UNHCR/A.
Zavallis

164,023
Refugees and migrants
arriving by sea to Europe in
2016

876
Average daily arrivals to
Greece in the month of
March

531
Refugees and migrants
estimated to have died/ gone
missing at sea in 2016

On 18th March, the European Union and Turkey reconfirmed

the agreement on the implementation of their joint action
plan to end irregular migration from Turkey to the EU. The
main action points of the EU-Turkey agreement are as
following:

All new irregular migrants crossing from Turkey into Greek islands as
from 20th March 2016 will be returned to Turkey.
For every Syrian being returned to Turkey from Greek islands,
another Syrian will be resettled from Turkey to the EU taking into
account the UN vulnerability criteria.
Read on about the main action points by clicking here

*References to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999).

Information contained in this newsletter is based on online sources and UNHCR Kosovo is not responsible for any misinterpretations.

UNHCR redefines its role in Greece as EU-Turkey deal comes into effect. UNHCR has till
now been supporting the authorities in the so-called "hotspots" on the Greek islands, where refugees
and migrants were received, assisted, and registered. Under the new provisions, these sites have now
become detention facilities. Accordingly, and in line with UNHCRs policy on opposing mandatory
detention, UNHCR has suspended some of its activities at all closed centres on the islands. However,
UNHCR maintains a presence to carry out protection monitoring to ensure that refugee and human rights
standards are upheld, and to provide information on the rights and procedures to seek asylum. UNHCR
staff will also continue to be present at the shoreline and sea port to provide life-saving assistance and
it will continue to assist the Greek authorities to develop an adequate reception capacity.

UNHCR Special Envoy, Angelina Jolie Pitt,

concluded her mission to Greece on 16th March. Ms
Jolie Pitt met with volunteers, NGOs and local authorities
engaged in emergency response efforts on the island of
Lesvos, and she spoke with refugee families in the Moria
registration centre. At the end of her visit Ms Jolie Pitt said,
"I look forward to UNHCR being able to enhance its support
to the Greek authorities in coordinating the humanitarian
response, and together with partners, support efforts of the
authorities to ensure effective registration as well as access
to asylum and relocation, with particular attention to those
who are the most vulnerable".

Special Envoy Angelina Jolie talks to Syrian refugees

in Domiz camp. UNHCR/A.McConnell

UNHCR: 6 steps towards solving the refugee

situation in Europe
UNHCR High Commissioner, Filippo Grandi, has proposed a plan to the EU Member States to manage
and stabilize the refugee situation. The plan includes six key points, such as full implementation of socalled "hot spot" approach and relocation of asylum seekers out of Greece and Italy and, stepping up
support to Greece to handle the humanitarian emergency, including for refugee status determination,
relocation, and return or readmission. Read on about other key points of the plan:
http://www.unhcr.org/56d957db9.html
Latest information is available on UNHCR website:
http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/regional.php

UNHCR Kosovo key developments in March

Skopje Processi meetings: OSCE

and UNHCR jointly facilitated the
first Technical Working Group
(TWG) meeting on Security,
Dialogue and Reintegration on 21st
March. TWG meeting on Personal
Documentation took place on 22nd
March. During the Security, Dialogue and
Reintegration TWG, participants discussed
measures to respond to security incidents
and enhance inter-community relations,
to tackle security and justice issues
affecting return and reintegration, and
finally to enable the freedom of

movement and address the obstacles to return. Moreover, during the TWG meeting on Personal
Documentation participants exchanged on key concerns and gaps affecting the displaced population and
agreed on the way forward to enable the efficient and timely provision of personal documentation. The
TWG members agreed to form a smaller taskforce group to tackle specific issues, which will feed into
the TWG with concrete actions and recommendations for the future work. Following both TWGs
meetings, all institutional participants received a list of action points agreed at the meetings for their
comments and input.

IDP profiling in Kosovo kick-starts in April. In 2012, UNHCR initiated a number of preparatory
activities to create conditions and cooperation of stakeholders for a collaborative implementation of IDP
Profiling exercise. Since then, UNHCR Kosovo supported by Joint IDP Profiling Service (JIPS) has been
closely working with the Ministry of Communities and Returns (MCR) and the Danish Refugee Council
(DRC) Office in Kosovo to plan and prepare the exercise. The preparatory phase included establishing
the Profiling Working Group and Profiling Management Group (PMG), agreeing on baseline data, drafting
the methodology, developing the questionnaire, etc. Other contributors to the project included the
Kosovo Agency for Statistics (KAS), Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Commissariat for Refugees and
Migration of the Republic of Serbia, OSCE Office in Kosovo, IOM, UNDP and other stakeholders, who
have also been members of the PMG.
DRC and MCR signed the Memorandum of Understanding about the profiling on 30 th March and its
implementation will take place between 1st April and 30th September. UNHCR will support the exercise
throughout its implementation phases. The outcome of the profiling will help the authorities and
stakeholders to understand better the needs of displaced persons and facilitate their access to
sustainable and rights-based durable solutions through development of policies and targeted DS
projects.

In March, UNHCR initiated the needs-assessment exercise targeting 381 Roma,

Ashkhali, and Egyptian (RAE) families. The families reside in Montenegro, FYROM and Serbia, and
are part of 9,400 individuals who registered their interest to return to Kosovo. Before the exercise
triggered, a pilot mission went to Montenegro to test the questionnaire and a new software database
developed by UNHCR Kosovo. The proper needs assessment in FYROM and Montenegro was launched
on 30th March and the mission to Serbia is expected to start on 5th April. According to the internal
planning, the entire exercise will be completed in April. The assessment exercise will focus on identifying
actual needs, vulnerabilities and skills/capacities of each family.

The regional initiative so-called Skopje Process is an inter-institutional initiative on Durable Solutions for Displaced Persons from Kosovo,
which is guided by context-specific 10 principles directing participating institutions to a comprehensiveness and inclusiveness of solutions,
delivering results in a time-bound manner, prioritising according to needs-based criteria, using the existing momentum. In Skopje Process,
UNHCR Kosovo in partnership with OSCE Mission in Kosovo bring together representatives from Belgrade, Skopje, Pristina and Podgorica
to address main obstacles to return such as: property rights, personal documentation, security, dialogue and reintegration, data
management and solutions planning. In 2016, a series of Technical Working Groups (TWG) is going to be organised to enable the discussion
between institutions in order to adopt action points in each priority area and address main challenges.

For more information please contact UNHCR Office of the Chief of Mission in Kosovo
Malgorzata Bratkrajc, External Relations Officer, tel: +381 38 241 509; e-mail: bratkraj@unhcr.org