Seventeen years after the conflict, the number of displaced people from Kosovo (S/RES/1244(1999)) in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia by end-March 2016 is estimated to stand at 684 people of RAE minorities. The legal status of this group is the following: 18 recognized refugees (2 per cent), 495 granted subsidiary protection (73 per cent) and 171 people in refugee-like situation (15 per cent). Out of this group some 18 are recognised refugees (2 per cent), 495 are under subsidiary protection (73 per cent) and the remaining 25 per cent or 171 are rejected asylum-seekers – refugee-like - whose stay in the country has been tolerated (failed asylum-seekers, granted leave to stay pending conditions for return in safety and dignity, and people of UNHCR’s concern pending regularising their residence permit in the country according to the Law on Foreigners. Some 180 people will find durable solution in 2016, either voluntary return or naturalization.
The country has an integration strategy for refugees and sufficient institutional structure in place to implement the strategy, led by Integration Centre under the ministry of Labour and Social Policy, and has given fully fledged access to the national social protection system to Kosovo (S/RES/1244(1999)) refugees with regulated status in the country. Namely, on the same grounds as the nationals, the people of concern under subsidiary protection and recognised refugee status receive housing and subsidiary financial allowance through the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy (MLSP), as well as healthcare insurance. Supported by UNHCR, MLSP has constructed 20 social apartments which have been allocated to the most vulnerable refugees meeting the criteria in an administrative procedure. However, despite the achieved progress, it should be highlighted that the amount of the subsistence financial assistance meets barely 30 per cent of the living costs, based on the data available from the State statistical office.