Praxis
Unaccompanied Refugee Children Exposed to Enormous Risks in the Balkans
It is estimated that around 1,300 refugee children and unaccompanied migrants are exposed to the risk of exploitation, violence and trafficking in human beings due to an increasingly restrictive border control policy and often inadequate response of the social protection system in the countries along the so-called Balkan route. This is the conclusion of a report published by the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children, in cooperation with 10 national and international organisations involved in providing assistance to refugees and migrants.
The social protection systems in the countries along the route often fail to identify and adequately support these extremely vulnerable children, including nine-year olds, who, fleeing from the war and poverty, cross thousands of kilometres without parents or guardians. These children are often "invisible" and in some cases, even when the social protection system identifies them, they are placed in inadequate conditions, including detention in some countries.
Risks to children traveling in this way have been further increased following the implementation of the agreement between the European Union and Turkey, which led to the closure of the borders along the so-called Balkan route. Due to these restrictive measures, unaccompanied children are forced to take desperate moves, thus relaying on traffickers or smugglers, whom they perceive as the only way to continue their journey.
The report further states that in this way some of these children become victims of exploitation, because the smugglers and traffickers are forcing them to work so they earn the money to continue their travel, and they are often being abused. Under these circumstances the children get neglected and exposed to enormous stress and danger. Even though they are trying to act boldly, their stories and drawings reveal harrowing details about their experiences on the road, for which they thought, would lead them to safety.
The social protection systems of the countries of the region, which need to identify and provide protection to unaccompanied children, face difficulties in their efforts to respond to the needs of vulnerable children whose numbers have been growing since the beginning of the crisis in 2015. In Serbia, the new demands have been met by increasing the accommodation capacities for unaccompanied children and employing additional social workers to provide them with support. However, additional efforts need to be invested to establish systemic solutions for the adequate protection of this group of children.
"Children need comprehensive support tailored to their needs“, says Jelena Besendić from Save the Children. "It is almost impossible for them to safely and legally continue their journey towards the EU countries. Many of these children decide to stay outside the system, and therefore do not get support from humanitarian organisations, and then often become targets of smugglers who use threats to manipulate them. Thus they become exposed to the risk of becoming victims of violence, abuse or exploitation.“
It is necessary to increase accommodation capacities in all countries along the route, and provide accommodation intended exclusively for unaccompanied children. Even when they are identified as children, unaccompanied minors are often placed in some centres together with adult refugees, unknown to them, or in the accommodation similar to detention, as is the case in Bulgaria and Hungary.
It often happens that unaccompanied children are placed under the guardianship of the employees of Social Welfare Centres who are overloaded because of simultaneously handling several similar cases, who lack sufficient experience or training for working with refugee and migrant children, and who are therefore unable to support them in accordance with applicable standards. Some children also complain that they are not sufficiently familiar with their rights or with the legal options available to them.
"Every child must get all the help and protection that it needs. The governments of the countries along the route have to improve their system of support to this most vulnerable group, but before doing so, we have to ensure that these governments get necessary support and financial means to be able to handle the crises. The European Union and EU Member States must fulfill the commitments they have made and promise to adequately respond to the needs of these children. This also includes the resettlement of unaccompanied children to the EU countries as well as the reunification with their families,” said Ashly Lovett from IRC. “The governments who are doing so, must discontinue with the practice of placing the children in detention, and should assign trained guardians to unaccompanied children. If this measures are not implemented, the children who have already suffered traumas due to war, conflict and difficult journey, will be put in an even more difficult position, because there is no safe and legal way for them, they are not being adequately protected, and they are desperate to move on.” The report was coordinated by the International Rescue Committee and Save the Children, and its creation was supported by NGOs Atina, Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, Centre for Youth Integration, Ideas, Infor Park, Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre, Otvorena porta, PIN, Praxis and Terre des hommes.
You can read the summary of the reports in Serbian here.
The case studies in English are available here.
You can read the integral report in English here.
On the Occasion of the International Roma Day
Today, we are celebrating the International Roma Day. Roma men and women are still the most vulnerable majority group in Serbia. The results achieved so far in improving their position have not yet removed some of the basic obstacles that impede their equal access to rights and inclusion in all social activities.
The Human Rights Committee, in its Concluding observations as of March this year, again expressed its concern that despite the efforts of the state to solve the problem, Roma are still facing widespread discrimination and exclusion, high unemployment rate, forced evictions and segregation in education and housing.
Our Roma fellow citizens, the residents of informal settlement in Cukaricka suma, welcome the International Roma Day this year in the settlement where living conditions are beneath human dignity, in the settlement surrounded by barriers that impede the access to it. Container settlements established as a temporary solution for the Roma evicted from informal settlement, have been in the same place for years. More than 50% of Roma girls get married before their 18th birthday, and problem of child, early and forced marriage almost exclusively affects the Roma community. Many Roma still do not have all valid personal documents and do not have access to basic rights. There is no effective free legal aid system, and for many Roma it is one of preconditions to access their rights. According to the annual report of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality, more than 40% of the total number of discrimination complaints on the basis of national affiliation and ethnic origin refer to discrimination against Roma. The precise data on the extent of unemployment do not even exist.
We appeal to competent institutions to accelerate the process of solving of the remaining problems, to responsibly, efficiently and systematically approach to improving of the position of Roma men and women. Also, we call for respect and promotion of human rights, intercultural values, dialogue, solidarity and human dignity.
We wish happy International Roma Day to Roma citizens!
Praxis Held Follow-up Workshops on Prevention and Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriages
In September and October 2016, Praxis held three two-day workshops for Roma women and men in Leksovac, Kostolac and Novi Pazar, aimed at prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages. The workshops were organized as part of the activities on the project “Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR.
A total of 75 women and girls and 75 men and boys took part in the workshops. Due to the specific gender role of women in the Roma community, the workshops were organized in a way that first day of the workshop targeted women and the second men.
The goal of the workshops was to come up with the proposal of mechanisms that would lead to prevention and elimination of this harmful traditional practice, during a two-day interactive discussion about the importance of the healthy early child development, respect for children’s needs and wishes, necessity of regular health protection, sexual and reproductive health, the importance of timely and continuous education.
The average age of marriage among the present Roma women was 16-17, and 18-19 among the Roma men. Also, the minimum age of marriage among the Roma women ranges from 13-15, the age when 21 present Roma women got married (28%). Only 22 participants (29.3%) entered into marriage /common marriage after 18 years of age, i.e. after the marriageable age.
It is necessary to continue working with Roma communities in these municipalities, provide them with advisory support and empower them to talk about this problem openly and work to resolve it. Educational and advisory work with parents, as decision makers, is equally important as the work with children aimed at raising awareness and empowering the girls and boys aged 10 to 15 years to resist this harmful traditional practice.
For more information, see the announcement Praxis Held Follow-up Workshops on Prevention and Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Marriages.
Praxis Held the Second Round of Community Meeting on Prevention and Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Meetings
In October and November 2016, Praxis held three community meetings in Leskovac, Pozarevac and Novi Pazar, as a part of activities aimed at prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages, carried out within the project “Legal Assistance to Persons at Risk of Statelessness in Serbia”, funded by UNHCR.
The idea of the second round of meeting was to gather the representatives of all institutions which may have a key role in the prevention of child, early and forced marriages, and the institutions which are obliged to react in case of child, early and forced marriages, in order to review the defined policies and improve them additionally.
A total of 48 representatives of social welfare centres, police, prosecution, judiciary, educational and health institutions, NGO sector, as well as Roma health mediators, teaching assistants and activists, took part in the meetings. The participants stated that though the problem of child, early and forced marriages has been present for long, it is not treated enough, and therefore almost no one knows how to solve it.
One of the conclusions of community meetings was the general impression of the participants that despite the mechanisms that can adequately resist the problem of child, early and forced marriages, the activities of the relevant institutions are not synchronized, but happens that the responsibilities are transferred from one institution to another.
For more information, see the announcement Praxis Held the Second Round of Community Meeting on Prevention and Elimination of Child, Early and Forced Meetings.
Praxis Protection Monitoring Report on Migration - February 2017
A total of 940 persons, of whom 328 UASC, have been relocated to the Reception Centre in Obrenovac, since its opening. The number of persons trying to cross to Croatia, Hungary or Romania has grown. The novelty compared to the previous month is the emergence of several volunteer organisations, which led to the introduction of another meal - dinner. The situation of hygiene has improved with the mobile toilets set up by some volunteer organisations. Yet, a large amount of accumulated garbage and the appearance of rats in the area of the barracks/warehouses is a particular reason for concern and another health risk.
Praxis continued its field work in February and provided a total of 628 newly arrived refugees and migrants (374 adults and 254 children) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is a significantly higher number of arrivals than in the previous month.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
Praxis Protection Monitoring Report on Migration - January 2017
In early January, temperatures in Belgrade were dropping to as low as 15 degrees Celsius below zero. According to the estimates received from the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, at the beginning of the month about 2,000 people were sleeping rough in Belgrade, at parking lots and in abandoned warehouses (barracks) near the Belgrade Bus Station.
About 500 refugees/migrants from the barracks behind the Belgrade Bus Station were relocated to Obrenovac, out of which about 200 UASC. In the middle of the month, MSF erected 5 tents with beds and heating for temporary overnight stay for potential UASC as well as refugees and migrants with health issues. Accommodation capacity is still insufficient to satisfy all the needs identified in the field. Moreover, Hungary reduced the number of daily admissions to territory and asylum procedures from 20 to a total of 10 per working day (weekends excluded).
Praxis continued its field work in January and provided a total of 382 newly arrived refugees/migrants (259 adults and 123 children) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is a smaller number of new arrivals than in the previous period as a result of extremely harsh weather conditions.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
Praxis Protection Monitoring Report on Migration - December 2016
The humanitarian situation in Belgrade at the end of December 2016 was quite alarming, with nearly 2,000 persons sleeping rough in Belgrade at temperatures below 0 degrees Celsius. Most of these people were sleeping in the barracks/warehouses behind the Belgrade Bus Station, in really poor conditions, without water, toilets, heating, in stuffy facilities as a result of lighting fire indoors to keep them warm, but Praxis staff counted approximately 150 on average daily sleeping outdoors, at parking lots, without any shelter. It is estimated that a third of these people are unaccompanied and separated children (UASC).
With the new arrivals, the capacities of almost all asylum and reception centres in Serbia are at full capacity or overburdened.
Praxis continued its field work in December and provided a total of 1,124 newly arrived refugees and migrants (656 adults and 468 children) in Belgrade with timely and adequate information and/or referrals, which is smaller number of arrivals than in the previous period as a result of harsh weather conditions and temperatures below zero degrees Celsius.
For more information, see the related announcement here.
We Are Exchanging Experience about Child, Early and Forced Marriages with the MoI of Montenegro and Centre for Roma Initiatives
At the beginning of February 2017, Praxis was visited by the representatives of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro and Centre for Roma Initiatives with an aim to exchange experience about the mechanism of prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages.
The visit to Praxis was part of a study visit to Belgrade, organized by the Centre for Roma Initiatives in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro, as part of the project “Coordinated action to combat violence and child marriages in Roma and Egyptian Community”, which is implemented in cooperation with UNICEF in Montenegro and financial support of EU. This project is part of a many-year regional initiative aimed at improving the protection of children from violence and social inclusion of children with disabilities, which is implemented by UNICEF, European Disability Forum - EDF, EU, and the governments of seven countries in the process of EU accession.
The goal of the study visit was to exchange knowledge and experience in relation to child, early and forced marriages with an aim to prepare “Guidelines for the treatment and processing of cases of forced marriages in Roma and Egyptian communities for the needs of police, social working centres, schools, courts and health centres” in Montenegro.
Unlike the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro, which expressed willingness to react to the occurrence of child, early and forced marriages, the lack of institutional will to responsibly deal with this problem is still evident in Serbia.
A Visit of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro and the Centre for Roma Initiatives to Exchange Experience about Child, Early and Forced Marriages
At the beginning of February 2017, Praxis was visited by the representatives of the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro and the Centre for Roma Initiatives with an aim to exchange experience about the mechanism of prevention and elimination of child, early and forced marriages.
The visit to Praxis was part of a study visit to Belgrade, organised by the Centre for Roma Initiatives in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro, as part of the project “Coordinated action to combat violence and child marriages in Roma and Egyptian community”, implemented in cooperation with UNICEF in Montenegro and financially supported by the EU. This project is part of a multi-year regional initiative aimed at improving the protection of children from violence and social inclusion of children with disabilities, which is implemented by UNICEF, the European Disability Forum - EDF, the EU, and the governments of seven countries in the process of EU accession.
The goal of the study visit was to exchange knowledge and experience in relation to child, early and forced marriages with an aim to prepare “Guidelines for the treatment and processing of cases of forced marriages in Roma and Egyptian communities for the needs of police, social working centres, schools, courts and health centres” in Montenegro.
Unlike the Ministry of Interior of Montenegro, which expressed readiness to respond to the occurrence of child, early and forced marriages, the lack of institutional will to responsibly deal with this problem is still evident in Serbia.
Protection Monitoring Report 16 Oct - 30 Nov 2016
At the beginning of November, the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs sent an Open Letter to international humanitarian and non-governmental organizations, stating that it was unacceptable that organizations provide food and NFI assistance in the centre or encourage migrants to reside outside designated asylum and reception centres, particularly on the territory of Belgrade.
The humanitarian situation in Belgrade is more concerning than ever, with around 1,000 refugees and migrants sleeping rough in Belgrade central parks and barracks behind the Bus Station, several hundreds of them being unaccompanied minors, in extremely poor hygienic conditions, with almost no assistance provided. In addition, Hungary reduced the number of persons it admits to only 20 per day, weekends excluded. At the same time, the capacities of the asylum and reception centres in Serbia are almost full, including the capacities of AC Krnjaca which are overstretched.
Praxis provided a total of 2,272 refugees and migrants (new arrivals) with timely and adequate information (1,345 adults and 927 children).
For more information, see the related announcement here.
- 1
- 2
- 3
POPULAR TAGS
