UNHCR provides assistance to persons seeking asylum in Montenegro and supports the Government in strengthening its asylum system, particularly in terms of building capacities for processing asylum applications, improving reception conditions for asylum seekers and establishing a protection-sensitive entry system. Particular attention is paid to access to territory, reception conditions, quality RSD decisions, child protection, SGBV prevention and response, LGBTI and the socio-economic integration of persons granted international protection in Montenegro.
From 1992 to 2017, UNHCR provided direct operational support to refugees from the former Yugoslavia, including allowances for the most vulnerable, psychosocial support, emergency health care and the management of the Konik refugee camp, and advocated with the Government for the adoption and development of a framework for their legal stay and local integration.
As of 2018 UNHCR in Montenegro assistance to ex-Yugoslav refugees, reflecting UNHCR regional strategy, has been narrowed down to the provision of legal support in dealing with documentation- and status-related issues to enable effective access to rights for those people still with an unstable legal status. This support will include individual legal assistance in Montenegro and the facilitation of cross-border cooperation, mainly with the Kosovo Ministry of Interior (MoI).
UNHCR in Montenegro also provides support to people at risk of statelessness. UNHCR’s strategy for the prevention and reduction of statelessness focuses on improving national legislation concerning procedures for ensuring the rights of stateless persons.