Miladinovic: The Red Cross has been helping people who left their homes in Kosovo for 25 years

Ljubomir Miladinovic, Secretary General of the Red Cross of Serbia, says for Kosovo Online that the organization's humanitarian programs also include internally displaced persons from Kosovo, and he notes that the Red Cross has been by their side throughout the entire period since the tragic events that forced them to leave their homes.

"It has been 25 years since the tragic events, when a large number of non-Albanian residents from Kosovo had to flee to save their lives," Miladinovic recalled.

"We have been alongside those who left their homes and sought new homes elsewhere in the Republic of Serbia. During this time, there has been a kind of integration of all those people into the communities where they settled," he said.

He explains that all citizens of the Republic of Serbia are treated equally in the Red Cross's humanitarian programs, which means that there are criteria for participating in these programs, and this applies to internally displaced persons from Kosovo as well.

Miladinovic emphasizes that the Red Cross is focused on its humanitarian mission, which is its primary mandate as a humanitarian organization.

"Of course, the recent period of heightened conditions and risks for humanitarian workers, as well as for all citizens in Kosovo to whom the Red Cross provides assistance, has made it significantly more difficult to carry out our activities. It sometimes prevents us from reaching everyone in need of help, but that never means that the Red Cross gives up," Miladinovic stressed.

He says that the organization is always persistent in finding a way to reach every person in need of assistance, "because that is our humanitarian mandate, and we truly strive to fulfill it to the fullest extent."

"Let me remind you that the Red Cross has 185 branches in the Republic of Serbia, including 22 in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, along with the provincial organization. We are the only internationally recognized national society for the territory of the Republic of Serbia, which means that the provincial organization in Kosovo and all local organizations are full and integral parts of the Red Cross of Serbia," Miladinovic said.

According to him, the Red Cross's activities are particularly focused on children.

"This year, 290 volunteers and children, with the help of the Red Cross of Serbia, the Red Cross of Kosovo, local organizations in Kosovo, and the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, spent time on vacation and recovery at the Red Cross children's resort 'Krsta Djordjevic' in Baosici, near Herceg Novi. For many of these children, it was their first time seeing the sea and a significant opportunity to learn and acquire various skills that the Red Cross offers in such settings," he noted.

He also reminds that during the March 2004 Pogrom, there was internal displacement within Kosovo.

"At that time, around 4,000 people had to leave their homes, but they remained in the territory of Kosovo. For all these people, the Red Cross of Serbia, with the support of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and its provincial organization in Kosovo, has been providing family food and hygiene packages for years, distributed to the most vulnerable, funded by the Republic of Serbia's budget," Miladinovic added.