The first buses with Montenegrin citizens will start arriving in the next few days, although their exact number remains unknown, writes daily newspaper Dnevne Novine (DN). Many who fled for Germany in hopes of a better life sold everything they had to buy tickets and provide temporary accomodation for their loved ones.
As confirmed for the DN, Montenegro will support these people by supporting employers to give them their old jobs back, by enrolling children back into school, by providing social assistance and other measures immeditely at disposal.
“I heard we will be welcomed in this country, so I did not hesitate to borrow money for the trip. Immediately upon arrival, they placed us in a room with 16 beds, and we all ate together. I knew right away that that was not what I hoped for for my kids and myself”, said a woman from Bijelo Polje, mother of two underage children, who left Montenegro to go to an EU country.
She said they were given 180 euros of social assistance monthly, and weekly 60 euros of vouchers which they could use only in certain objects.
“I realized this is not the life we dreamed, but we managed somehow. After nearly two years, local authorities called us in to give them our passports. They put some stamps and told us it is a sign that we have to go from whence we came”.
“Our fellow citizens are already individually returning from EU countries”, confirmed the president of the NGO Euromost (eng. Euro-bridge), Almer Mekic, for Dnevne Novine.
However, the local Center for Social Welfare and the Municipality of Pljevlja said they were informed by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare that German Government is planning an organized return of Montenegrin nationals within the next few days.
The return of asylum seekers to their home country is not particularly concerning local officials in Pljevlja and Bijelo Polje, who say all citizens are welcome back.
“No one is forbidden to travel in search of a better life… According to data available to local governments from the beginning of the year, about 500 of our fellow citizens departed for EU countrues”, said Jemal Ljušković, president of local assembly of Bijelo Polje, stressing that according to official information, there were no cases of fellow citizens selling their entire property, meaning that everyone has a home to come back to.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare said for Dnevne Novine that “Social Work Centres, under the Law on social and child protection, will continue to provide the necessary funds for their beneficiaries”.
