A total of six municipalities in the country submitted their opinions to the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and to the Government regarding the draft strategy for the integration of refugees and foreigners from 2017-2027 and the proposed refugee integration action plan for 2017-2027.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Policy told “Meta” that parts of the explanations from most of the municipalities are “in line with xenophobia”.
According to the letter that “Meta” received from the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, by the end of the deadline for reactions and opinions, which expired yesterday, most opinions came from Novo Selo, Demir Kapija, Kriva Palanka, Veles, Gazi Baba and Prilep.
Most of the municipalities have identical and negative views concerning the strategy, and as arguments for there views, they stated that Macedonia should remain a transit country for migrants and that the municipalities do not have the space, finances or the infrastructural conditions to respond to the measures mentioned in the strategy.
In the opinion of the Municipality of Novo Selo, it stated, among other things, that with this strategy the country will be unnecessarily, financially burdened and the demographic picture will be permanently broken, keeping in mind that “in the Municipality of Novo Selo, 99.9% of the population who live there are of Macedonian ethnicity and are Christian Orthodox “.
The Municipality of Novo Selo emphasized that they will call for a referendum for the citizens’ to voice their opinions on the matter.
The views of the municipalities of Demir Kapija, Kriva Palanka, Prilep and Gazi Baba are identical, where they say that accepting refugees and foreigners in Macedonia “will destabilize the region and the country as a whole”.
