In mid-September, Mr. Volker Beck, a member of the German Bundestag from the Green Party, visited Serbia. He held meetings with representatives of civil society organisations to discuss the situation of human rights in Serbia and the challenges they faced in the efforts for their realisation.

Mr. Beck was particularly interested in the topics related to asylum and migration, as well as those related to the Roma community and other ethnic minorities. The meetings were attended by Ivanka Kostić – Praxis Executive Director, Vuk Raičević - Antidiscrimination and Gender Equality Programme Coordinator and Boris Sijerković - Migration Protection Officer, who presented the major problems faced by refugees, migrants, asylum seekers and the Roma community, as well as the current activities of our organisation, including our comprehensive results achieved in the fight for human rights in Serbia.

The failure to include the public in the decision-making process can result in the unlawfulness or unconstitutionality of adopted acts, which will always be the case if a public hearing has not been held despite the prescribed obligation to do so. Such a standpoint was taken by the Constitutional Court in deciding on the initiatives for assessing the constitutionality and legality of general acts. The Constitutional Court assessed that the disputed decisions of the administrative authorities in Ćuprija, Mionica and Kraljevo, which determined fees for environmental protection, were not in accordance with the Law on Local Self-Government Financing, since the administrative authorities had failed to hold a public hearing at the time of adopting the disputed decisions, which was prescribed as a mandatory phase in the procedure of adopting such type of acts.

It should be kept in mind that Article 51 of the Constitution prescribes that everyone has the right to be informed truthfully, fully and timely about issues of public importance and that the media have the obligation to respect this right and that everyone has the right to access information that is in the possession of state authorities. The non-transparent decision-making process and the failure to include citizens and civil society organisations may result in the unconstitutionality of adopted acts, which is confirmed by the practice of the Constitutional Court. With respect to the decisions of the administrative authorities in Ćuprija and Mionica, the Constitutional Court found that "failing to hold a public hearing in adopting (...) decisions violated the constitutional right to be informed under Article 51, paragraph 1 of the Constitution". 

In addition, it is important to point out also to the inappropriate decision of the Kraljevo City Assembly on compensating the costs of in vitro fertilisation, which excluded the right to compensation for marginalised groups. This decision unjustifiably excluded the internally displaced persons with the registered temporary residence in Kraljevo since 1999, since they were not able to fulfil the requirement regarding the registration of permanent residence. There were no consultations with CSOs or citizens before making this decision. After Praxis lodged a complaint with the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, the administrative authority changed the disputed decision, thus demonstrating the willingness to ensure the exercise of rights to all citizens under equal conditions. The civil society plays an important role in eliminating such deficiencies. However, there is no doubt that the actions of administrative authorities would be more efficient if CSOs and citizens were already involved in the process of drafting acts, in order to prevent the adoption of inappropriate or discriminatory decisions.

Public participation in policy making is one of the key elements of good governance, and good governance is a precondition for creating a framework for full respect for human rights. Transparency in the actions of administrative authorities and the participation of civil society organisations and citizens in the decision-making process is one of the focuses of the project Contributing to Public Administration Reform in Kraljevo implemented by Praxis.

Media coverage: RTV KV

In August, the largest number of refugees/migrants met and/or interviewed by Praxis’ mobile team during a day, was 290, including the newly arrived ones, the refugees/migrants accommodated in the Asylum Centre Krnjača and the Reception Centre Obrenovac and those who returned to Belgrade after unsuccessful attempts to cross the Croatian, Hungarian or Romanian border. 

Praxis continued its field work and provided a total of 500 newly arrived refugees and migrants (347 adults and 153 children, including 85 unaccompanied and separated children - UASC) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is significantly more than in the previous month when we provided 191 newly arrived refugees/migrants with relevant information. During this month, Praxis visited the town of Obrenovac several times thus expanding its activities, in order to provide as many refugees/migrants as possible with relevant and timely information. Out of the total of 500 newly arrived refugees/ migrants, one hundred and fifty (150) refugees/migrants (30.0%) came from Pakistan. One hundred and twenty-one (121) refugees/migrants came from Iraq (24.2%), which is a significantly higher percentage than in the previous period. 103 persons or 20.6% of them were from Afghanistan. Twenty-six (26) newly arrived refugees/migrants were from Syria, which accounts for 5.2% of the total number. 18 refugees/migrants (3.6%) came from Algeria, thirteen (13) refugees/migrants (2.6% of the total number) came from Iran. Nine (9) newly arrived refugees/migrants came from Morocco (1.8%), while a total of 60 (12.0%) refugees/migrants came from other countries: Bangladesh, India, Palestine, Tunisia, Eritrea, Libya, Egypt and Mauritania. 

In this reporting period, the families waiting for registration or transport to one of the asylum or reception centres they had been referred to still had the option of spending the night in Miksalište. The adult men stayed outdoors overnight, in the parks or at the railway station. There is still no organised transport to the reception and asylum centres, like in the previous reporting period. As regards food, clothing and medical assistance, the situation in the field remains unchanged: there is still no organised distribution of food and clothing outside of the Asylum Centre Krnjača and the Reception Centre Obrenovac. In the previous period, the lack of medical assistance in the field in the afternoon hours caused concerns. In August, MSF extended working hours, and in this reporting period, medical doctors were present in the field from 9 AM to 8 PM. 

Download the whole Protection Monitoring Report here.

Statement by  Network of Organizations for Children of Serbia (MODS)

The Council for the Rights of the Child, the body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, appointed Jasmina Miković, the Deputy Executive Director of Praxis and the President of the Board of MODS, as their member in their new convocation.

MODS expects that a constituent session of the Council for the Rights of the Child will be held very quickly, bearing in mind that Serbia currently lack the basic strategic documents in the field of children’s rights, and that it is necessary to work intensively on developing mechanisms for coordination of activities and measures in the field of protection and realization of the rights of the child.

 * Observations and comments by the MODS on the Report on the Implementation of the Action Plan for Chapter 23

We remind that with the Action Plan for Chapter 23, the Government accepted an obligation to strengthen its role in the formulation and monitoring of children’s rights policies. Accordingly, MODS expresses the hope that the new Government will work to strengthen the capacities of the Council for the Rights of the Child so that it grows into a leading inter-sector coordination mechanism with core competencies in the child protection sector.

In July, the number of refugees/migrants met and interviewed by Praxis’ mobile team on a daily basis did not exceed 250 per day, including the newly arrived ones, the refugees/migrants accommodated in the Asylum Centre Krnjača and the Reception Centre Obrenovac and those who returned to Belgrade after unsuccessful attempts to cross the Croatian, Hungarian or Romanian border. 

Praxis continued its field work and provided a total of 191 newly arrived refugees and migrants (106 adults and 85 children, out of whom 66 UASC) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is fewer than in the previous month when we informed 279 newly arrived refugees/migrants. Out of the total number of newly arrived refugees and migrants, 110 persons or 57.6% of them were from Afghanistan. Four (4) newly arrived refugees and migrants were from Syria, which accounts for 2.1% of the total number. Two (2) refugees/migrants came from Iraq (1%), which is a significantly lower percentage than in the previous period. Fifty-four (54) refugees/migrants (28.3%) were from Pakistan, mainly single men and unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), like in the previous period. Ten (10) refugees/migrants (5.2% of the total number) came from Iran. One (1) newly arrived refugee/migrant came from Morocco (0.5%). A total of 10 refugees/migrants (5.2%) came from other countries: Bangladesh, India, China, Nepal, Cuba and Guinea. 

The families waiting for registration or transport to one of the asylum or reception centres they had been referred to still had the option of spending the night in Miksalište. The adult men stayed outdoors overnight, in the parks or at the railway station. There is still no organised transport to the reception and asylum centres, like in the previous reporting period. As regards food, clothing and medical assistance, the situation in the field remains unchanged:  there is still no organised distribution of food and clothing outside of the Asylum Centre Krnjača and the Reception Centre Obrenovac. The organisations that provide medical assistance are not present in the field in the afternoon hours.      

Download the whole Protection Monitoring Report HERE.