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Close Window Deputy Chief of Mission, Vivian S. Walker, presents a Roma community with equipment purchased through a grant from the Ambassador’s Refugee Fund valued at 50,000 Kuna ($10,000). In Petrinjci on January 18, 2008
Deputy Chief of Mission, Vivian S. Walker, presents a Roma community with equipment purchased through a grant from the Ambassador’s Refugee Fund valued at 50,000 Kuna ($10,000). In Petrinjci on January 18, 2008
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Deputy Chief of Mission, Vivian S. Walker, presents a Roma community with equipment purchased through a grant from the Ambassador’s Refugee Fund valued at 50,000 Kuna ($10,000). In Petrinjci on January 18, 2008
Deputy Chief of Mission, Vivian S. Walker, presents a Roma community with equipment purchased through a grant from the Ambassador’s Refugee Fund valued at 50,000 Kuna ($10,000). In Petrinjci on January 18, 2008

U.S Government To Provide Humanitarian Assistance to Roma Refugees in Petrinjci

For Immediate Release
January 17, 2008

Zagreb, January 17, 2008 –  The U.S. Embassy in Zagreb, through the U.S. Ambassador’s Refugee Fund, will make a donation worth 50,000 Kuna ($10,000) to provide legal assistance, and small tools and equipment to help foster self-sufficiency and sustainability in the village of Petrinjci, which is located near Sisak. The Sisak-based Civil Rights Project, an NGO with experience in assisting refugee populations, is the U.S. Government’s main partner in the implementation of the grant.

Prior to the war, most of people from this vulnerable group of approximately 33 people lived in the Capraske poljane settlement in houses without electricity, water or sewage service.  Following the war, the families were housed in a government-operated collective center in Sisak.  Upon closure of the collective center in 2007, the Croatian government provided state-owned housing to the many refugee families who had no other home or means of livelihood.

U.S. Deputy Chief of Mission Vivian Walker will visit Petrinjci (Address:  Petrinjci 12, Sunja Municipality) on Friday, January 18 to donate the equipment and supplies to seven Roma families.

The U.S. Embassy in Zagreb has a long record of active engagement on refugee issues.
In previous years, the U.S. Ambassador's Refugee Fund has been used to support a kindergarten in a collective center and provide supplies for an inter-ethnic senior home. 

For additional information, please contact Ms. Anja Picelj-Kosak at the U.S. Embassy's Public Affairs Office, phone (01) 661-2284, cell 091-661-2284, or e-mail: picelja@state.gov