Vrela Ribnička

Vrela Ribnička is a neighbourhood in Podgorica that borders the neighbourhoods of Kakaricka Gora, Masline, Ribnica and Stari Aerodrom. Vrela Ribnička is a subdivision of the larger Konik neighborhood. It is mostly a lowrise residential area, with very poor infrastructure. Most of the neighborhood has an appearance of a slum town. On its southeastern tip, it has a real refugee camp (which is more like a shanty town than a camp), a garbage dump and many garbage processing facilities. Vrela Ribnička contains one of the most notable auto-mechanics in Montenegro, Fratini, which is owned and operated by Naser Toskić.

Since the domestic population consists heavily of Roma, Vrela Ribnička is considered the largest ghetto in Podgorica.

Vrela Ribnička is bordered to the north and east by the Ribnica. To the south, it is bordered by the village of Omerbožovići, and to the west by Ćemovsko Polje (Ćemo's Field).

Major streets in Vrela Ribnička include Spanish Warriors Street (Ulica Španskih boraca) and Hegumen Street (Ulica Igumanska).

The Vrela Ribnička refugee camp is one of the five refugee settlements in Montenegro. Built in 1994, the camp houses many refugees of Bosnian origin displaced during the Yugoslav Wars. Financial support came from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The settlement consists of eight one-story residential buildings, containing 200 housing units altogether. A housing unit consists of one room occupied by one family and a common bathroom and toilet shared with adjoining neighbours. Intended for temporary accommodation, the quality of construction was initially low. As of March 1999, 196 refugee families live in the settlement, with a total of about 850 household members, most of whom were either born in Montenegro or had family in either Podgorica and/or Montenegro.

Adjoining the settlement is a "tent camp" known as "Konik I," established in 1998 for displaced Kosovar Roma. In October 1998, the Podgorica Red Cross registered nearly 2,000 Roma in the tent camp. Construction on these facilities were so poorly completed that barely anything functioned properly, with repairs nearly impossible. Many of these Kosovar Roma had lived in similar conditions as they did in Kosovo.

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