On this year’s International Roma Day, celebrated all over the world on 8 April, the Roma in Serbia continue to be one of the most marginalised and discriminated social groups. Low educational level, unemployment, inadequate living conditions, difficult financial situation, hindered access to personal documents, health care and social welfare remain to be the challenges often faced by the Roma in Serbia. 

Despite some progress achieved over the past several years in the field of exercising and protecting certain rights, Roma continue to face obstacles that hinder or completely prevent their access to certain rights on a daily basis. Thus, there are still children who cannot be registered at birth due to inadequate regulations and who therefore remain excluded from the system of health care and social welfare in the most vulnerable period of their lives. The situation of Roma children is particularly worrying because they are at a much higher risk of early dropout and/or becoming victims of child, early and forced marriages. Social exclusion, discrimination, segregation, intolerance and prejudice are negative phenomena that are too often associated with the Roma community.

A society in which one of the largest national minorities lives in the situation that is by far worse than the situation of the majority population can in no case be considered successful. Therefore, Praxis urges all institutions to pay more attention to the numerous problems faced by Roma, and to invest more efforts to change inadequate regulations and eradicate poor practices and discrimination because otherwise the situation of Roma cannot be improved.

On 29 March 2018, Praxis held a conference to present the results of the project Contributing to Public Administration Reform in Kraljevo, within the framework of the Western Balkans Enabling Project for Civil Society Monitoring of Public Administration Reform (WeBER), financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The conference was attended by representatives of local administrative bodies, civil society organisations and the media. 

Marija Dražović from Praxis presented the project activities implemented in the period 1 June 2017 - 31 March 2018 and aimed at achieving the transparency of data on public administration reform at the local level, improving the service role of local administrative bodies and public awareness about it, improving the mechanisms of cooperation of the local self-government with citizens and civil society organisations and contributing to better embed the principles of public administration in local decisions and manner of providing services.

For more information, see the announcement here.

The report Contributing to Public Administration Reform in Kraljevo  was prepared as the result of the research conducted by Praxis within the project "Contributing to public administration reform in Kraljevo" in the period from 1 June 2017 - 31 March 2018, as part of  the project Western Balkans Enabling Project for Civil Society Monitoring of Public Administration Reform (WeBER), financed by the European Union and co-financed by the Kingdom of Netherlands.

Based on the conducted research of the transparency of local self-government and the efficiency of local administrative bodies in Kraljevo, as well as monitoring of the application of the Law on General Administrative Procedure, Praxis has established that there is a significant  space for improving the work of local administrative bodies in all areas. 

Download the report here.

Ivanka Kostic, Praxis Executive Director, took part in the Expert meeting on Improving access to Civil Registration and Identity Documents for Roma in Ukraine that was organized by ODIHR in co-operation with the State Migration Service of Ukraine, Ministry of Justice of Ukraine, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Representation in Ukraine.

Ivanka presented Serbia’s significant improvements relating to birth registration, statelessness, residence registration and access to identity documents following 10 years of intensive advocacy by Praxis, UNHCR and other CSOs and international agencies. She also shared Praxis’ experience in its active participation in the Technical Working Group (established by the Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-government, UNHCR and the Ombudsperson institution) and its close cooperation with the relevant government institutions in the Technical Working Group on individual cases, but also on problems and gaps in the implementation of the newly adopted regulations. Through the Technical Working Group, Praxis also advocated for changes and documented the remaining systemic gap relating to birth registration of children of undocumented parents, immediately after birth. 

The expert meeting built on the recommendations of the 2017 Odessa Declaration, developed to overcome obstacles in access to civil registration and identity documents by Roma in Ukraine. The participants discussed the possibility of establishing a joint technical working group of state and non-state stakeholders to co-ordinate efforts in addressing the issue.

The participants expressed their belief that the meeting was a significant step towards addressing the lack of personal documents among Roma in Ukraine.

Nakon godinu dana, upravni postupci naknadnog upisa činjenice rođenja za troje dece su konačno uspešno rešeni pred Matičnom službom u Kraljevu. 

Usled nezakonitog postupanja i nepoštovanja pravila postupka, postupajući organ je tri puta neosnovano odbio zahteve, zbog čega je Ministarstvo državne uprave i lokalne samouprave svaki put usvajalo žalbe i predmete vraćalo na ponovni postupak. Između ostalog, postupajući organ je odbijao zahteve i jer je smatrao da su protivni Ustavu, jer podneta pismena i akti nisu bili napisani ćirilicom, već latinicom, dok je protivustavnim smatrao i Praxisove aktivnosti informisanja i savetovanja stranke. Postupajući organ se nije starao da neznanje i neukost stranke u postupku ne budu na štetu prava koja joj pripadaju, niti je neukoj stranci pružao pomoć, što predstavlja obavezu organa koji vodi upravni postupak na koju mora da pazi po službenoj dužnosti. Naprotiv, zloupotrebio je svoj položaj i ovlašćenja i iskoristio neznanje i neukost podnositeljke zahteva na njenu štetu, onemogućivši je u ostvarivanju zakonom predviđenih prava.

Tako je postupajući organ više puta nalagao podnositeljki zahteva, pripadnici romske nacionalne manjine koja ne govori srpski jezik, da obezbedi usluge prevodioca, iako Zakon o službenoj upotrebi jezika i pisama na to obavezuje organ koji vodi postupak. Smatrajući da je Matična služba u Kraljevu počinila diskriminaciju, uskraćujući mogućnost podnositeljki zahteva da zbog nepoznavanja jezika učestvuje u postupku, Praxis je Povereniku za zaštitu ravnopravnosti podneo pritužbu, čiji ishod se očekuje.

Nakon pokretanja postupka utvrđivanja diskriminatornog postupanja, zahtevi za upis činjenice rođenja troje dece su odobreni, a paradoksalno je da je to učinjeno na osnovu istih dokaza i izjava istih svedoka, koji su bili predloženi i prilikom pokretanja postupaka.

Matična služba u Kraljevu u svom postupanju nije primenila zakonom propisane mere kojima se olakšava učešće pripadnika osetljivih grupa, već je zanemarivanjem ovih afirmativnih mera dodato otežala njihov položaj i učešće u postupcima. Posebno je zabrinjavajuće postupanje organa, s obzirom na to da se u postupcima odlučivalo o formalnom sticanju pravnog subjektiviteta dece, a koje je potpuno suprotno osnovom principu da je svako dužan da se rukovodi najboljim interesom deteta.

Preuzmite izveštaj ovde.

Praxis' legal mobile team visited the following:

September

• 13 September - Roma settlements in resnik, Cukarica and Zvezdara
• 12 September - Roma settlements "Karadjordjeva ulica" and "Stari Kostolac", Kostolac
•   9 September - Roma settlements "Vozegnci" and "Cerkes mala", Novi Pazar

August

• 30 August - Roma settlements "Reva" and "Deponija", Palilula
• 29 August - Roma settlement "veliki rit", Novi Sad 
• 29 August - Roma settlements "Jablanicka ulica" in Lebane and "Omladinska ulica" in Medvedja
• 27 August - Roma settlement "Cukaricka suma", Cukarica
• 16 August - Roma settlements in Miroslava Antica Street, Vojvode Knicanina street and Laze Kostica Street i Djurdjevo, and Petra Kocica Street and Roma settlement "Plekano naselje" in Zablje
• 12 August - Roma settlements "Dudara" and "Surducka ulica", Zrenjanin
•   1 August - Roma settlements in Bavaniste, Dubovac, Oresac, Zagajica and Vladimirovci, Municipalities of Vrsac and Kovin
•   1 August - Roma settlements "Dalas" in Tutin and "Kucavski lug" in Raska

July

• 30 July - Roma settlements in Zemun polje and Kotez
• 26 July - Roma settlement "Dubrava", Lajkovac
• 25 July - Roma settlements in Vozdovac and Batajnica
• 24 July - Roma settlements in Zemun and Batajnica
• 18 July - Roma settlements in Cukarica, Sremcica, Resnik and Karaburma 
• 17 July - Roma settlements in Batajnica, Borca and Zemun
• 11 July - Roma settlement "Mali krivak", Smederevo
•   9 July - Roma settlement "Dubovo", "Recica" and "Samarinovac", Zitoradja
•   9 July - Roma settlements in Admirala Vukovica Street, Vojvode Stepe Street, Bulevar Kralja Aleksandra Street, and Kornetska Street
•   3 July - Roma settlement "Cukaricka suma" and Roma settlements in Resnik and Rakovica, Cukarica
•   2 July - Roma settlements "Stubal" and "Lepenica" in Vladičin Han and "Masurica" in Surdulica

June

• 25 June - Roma settlements "Zitni potok" and "Dragi deo", Prokuplje
• 21 June - Roma settlement "Reva", Palilula
• 20 June - Roma settlements in Zagajica nad Plandiste, Vrsac
• 19 June - Roma settlements "Cukaricka suma", OMV pumpa" and container settlements in Resnik and Makis, Cukarica
• 18 June - Roma settlements "Jablanicka uliva" in Lebane and "Vlase" in Leskovac
• 18 June - Roma settlements "Kajmakcalanska ulica" and "Kolonija", Smederevska Palanka
• 11 June - Roma settlements "Reva" and "Reva politika" and Roma settlements in Krnjaca, Palilula
•   7 June - Roma settlements "Slavnik" and "Gornji Brestovac", Bojnik
•   6 June - Roma settlements "Deponija" and "Mirijevsko brdo", Palilula

May

• 28 May - Roma settlements "Kanal" and "Pionirska", Kostolac
• 24 May - Roma settlements in Backi Monostor, Sombor
• 23 May - Roma settlements in Mislodjin and Brace Jugovica Street, Obrenovac
• 22 May - Roma settlement "Mali bedem" and Roma settlements in Mokrin, Kikinda
• 13 May - Roma settlements "Donje brijanje", "Medja" and "Turekovac", Leskovac
• 10 May - Roma settlement "Borici", Tutin
•   9 May - Roma settlements in Zemun and Batajnica
•   6 May - Roma settlements "Pridvorice" and "Selevac", Smederevska Palanka

April

• 24 April - Roma settlements in Tovarisevo and Selanci, Backa Palanka
• 23 April - Roma settlements "17. februar" and "Magas", Bojnik
• 18 April - Roma settlements "Zitni potok" and "Mala guba", Prokuplje
• 18 April - Roma settlements "Cukaricka suma", "OMV pumpa", Municipality of Cukarica and Roma settlements in Zeleznik, Medakovic and Marinkova bara
• 11 April - Roma settlements "Citluk", "Panjevac" and "Dedina", Krusevac
• 10 April - Roma settlements "Banjska ulica" and "Miodrag Nojkovic Cale", Bujanovac
•   9 April - Roma settlement "Veliki rit", Novi Sad
•   8 April - Roma settlements in Zemun, Borca and Krnjaca
•   5 April - Roma settlements "Mirijevsko brdo", "Mali Leskovac" and "Deponija", Palilula

March

• 26 March - Roma settlements "Beograd mala" and "Stocni trg", Nis
• 25 March - Roma setlements "Bagremar", "Pionirska" and "Kanal", Kostolac 
• 21 March - Roma settlement "Fekovica brdo", Sjenica
• 20 March - Roma settlements "Mirijevsko brdo", "Mali Leskovac", Palilula
• 18 March - Roma settlements in Borca, Zemun and Novi Beograd
• 15 March - Roma settlements "Barake Kotex" and "Lepenicka ulica", Kragujevac
• 14 March - Roma settlements in Bavaniste and Dubovac, Kovin
• 13 March - Container settlements "Makis II" and beneficiraies in Rakovica, Miljakovac and Palilula
•   5 March - Roma settlement "Ciganski rid", Vranje
•   4 March - Roma settlements "Blok Sutjeska" and Branka Monirova Street and Grgetecka Street, Palilula

February 

• 28 February - Roma settlement "Plavi horizont" in Zemun, and Roma settlements "Tosin bunar" and "Staro sajmiste" in Novi Beograd, and Roma settlements in Marinkova bara and Veliki Mokri Lug
• 27 February - Roma settlements "Prcilovica" and "Donji Ljubes", Aleksinac
• 26 February - Roma settlement "Veliki rit", Novi Sad
• 21 February - Roma settlement "Vozegrnci", Novi Pazar
• 20 February - Roma settlement "Deponija", Municipality of Palilula and meetings with beneficiaries in front of SWC Palilula and SWC Zvezdara 
• 19 February - Roma settlement  "Plavi horizonti" and social apartments in Akrobate Aleksica Street, Zemun, and "Vojni pout block 1" in Zemun and Mileva Maric Anstajn Street, Novi Beograd