NGOs report that 6,852 migrants and asylum seekers are currently confined in the country’s 13 closed reception centres. Many had tried to cross into Croatia and Hungary – with some being forcibly pushed back by Hungarian and Croatian border police. In recent months, anti-migrant sentiment has grown in the country: a rally in Belgrade in early March called for the return of all migrants passing through Serbia and warned that participants would set up street patrols to intercept foreigners.
After the eruption of the Covid-19 crisis, Serbian authorities quickly moved to lock-down reception centres, imposing a state of quarantine on 17 March. Article 3, paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Decree on Emergency Measures provides that migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers may be deprived of their liberty on the grounds of preventing “uncontrolled movement” and the potential spread of the virus. With armed soldiers reportedly stationed outside the reception centres, migrants and asylum seekers have not been allowed out of the facilities unless they receive special permission, and rights organisations have been prevented from entering – thus denying detainees psychological, legal, or other forms of assistance.
However, with no confirmed cases amongst the non-citizen population, and with no such restrictions in place for Serbian citizens living in private accommodation, rights observers argue that this amounts to “discrimination on the basis of legal status, origin and place of residence.” The human rights NGO A11 says that the government’s quarantine of reception facilities is additionally problematic given that the collective deprivation of liberty of non-citizens has produced inhuman and degrading conditions in certain facilities due to severe overcrowding – reportedly, capacity at Sombor Transit Centre has reached 450 percent.
- A group of migrants rest at the Serbian village of Kelebia, bordering Hungary (EPA-EFE/Zoltan Balogh Hungary Out/ Balkan Insight – https://balkaninsight.com/2020/04/09/movement-ban-worsens-migrants-plight-in-serbia-bosnia/
- A11, “Lišenje slobode izbeglica, tražilaca azila i migranata u Republici Srbiji kroz mere ograničenja i mere odstupanja od ljudskih i manjinskih prava donetih pod okriljem vanrednog stanja,” April 2020, https://www.a11initiative.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/Li%C5%A1enje-slobode-izbeglica-tra%C5%BEilaca-azila-i-migranata-u-Republici-Srbiji-u-vreme-vanrednog-stanja_final.pdf
- M. Stojanovic, “Serbian Anti-Migrant Protest Condemned as ‘Disgrace,’” Balkan Insight, 9 March 2020, https://balkaninsight.com/2020/03/09/serbian-anti-migrant-protest-condemned-as-disgrace/
- I. Jeremic et al, “Movement Ban Worsens Migrants’ Plight in Serbia, Bosnia,” Balkan Insight, 9 April 2020, https://balkaninsight.com/2020/04/09/movement-ban-worsens-migrants-plight-in-serbia-bosnia/
- N. Đorđević, “Human Rights Organisations Raise Concerns About Treatment of Roma and Migrants During Coronavirus Lockdown,” Emerging Europe, 22 April 2020, https://emerging-europe.com/news/human-rights-organisations-raise-concerns-about-treatment-of-roma-and-migrants-during-coronavirus-lockdowns/
- A11, “Refugees, Asylum Seekers and Migrants Unlawfully and Arbitrarily Detained on the Basis of Discriminatory Criteria,” 21 April 2020, https://www.a11initiative.org/en/refugees-asylum-seekers-and-migrants-unlawfully-and-arbitrarily-detained-on-the-basis-of-discriminatory-criteria/
