Since March, all transit and asylum centres have been in lock-down. Raids of squats and informal accommodation have increased since then, with migrants and asylum seekers apprehended and transferred to camps across the country. According to the Border Violence Monitoring Network (BVMN), the government temporarily opened several “camps,” which have been quickly filled with new […]
23 April 2020 – Serbia
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 […]
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DETENTION STATISTICS
DETAINEE DATA
DETENTION CAPACITY
ALTERNATIVES TO DETENTION
ADDITIONAL ENFORCEMENT DATA
PRISON DATA
POPULATION DATA
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
LEGAL & REGULATORY FRAMEWORK
GROUNDS FOR MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
Immigration-Status-Related Grounds
LENGTH OF MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION
MIGRATION-RELATED DETENTION INSTITUTIONS
PROCEDURAL STANDARDS & SAFEGUARDS
DETENTION MONITORS
> National human rights monitoring bodies
> National Preventive Mechanisms (Optional Protocol to UN Convetion against Torture)
> Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
> Governmental monitoring bodies
> International detention monitoring
TRANSPARENCY
READMISSION/RETURN/EXTRADITION AGREEMENTS
Bilateral/Multilateral Readmission Agreements
COVID-19
COVID-19 DATA
INTERNATIONAL TREATIES
International Treaties Ratified
Ratification Year
Observation Date
CAT, Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2001
2017
ICPED, International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance
2011
2017
CTOCTP, Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children
2001
2017
CTOCSP, Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
2001
2017
OPCAT, Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment
2006
2006
Ratio of relevant international treaties ratified
Ratio: 13/19
Individual Complaints Procedures
Acceptance Year
ICCPR, First Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966
2001
2001
CEDAW, Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, 1999
2003
2003
Relevant Recommendations Issued by Treaty Bodies
Recommendation Year
Observation Date
Committee on the Rights of the Child
57. In the light of general comment No. 6 (2005) on treatment of unaccompanied and separated children outside their country of origin, the Committee recommends that the State party:
(a) Establish fair and efficient asylum procedures that are to be carried out in a child-sensitive manner, in both procedural and substantive aspects, and that can be used to systematically identify and refer unaccompanied or separated children for appropriate protection and support, and consider amending relevant national legislation, including the Law on asylum, in this regard;
(b) Ensure the full inclusion of asylum-seeking and refugee children who are unaccompanied or separated in the existing child protection system, provide accommodation in foster families or other accommodation facilities adequate for their age, gender and needs in line with best interest assessments conducted on an individual basis and establish specialized services for children with emotional, psychiatric and behavioural problems;
(c) Ensure that all asylum-seeking children are systematically provided with information on their rights and obligations, asylum procedures and available services to prevent them from resorting to sleeping without shelter for fear of deportation, and take the steps necessary to protect unaccompanied children from smuggling rings;
(d) Ensure full respect for the principle of non-refoulement and facilitate access to the asylum system for children in need of international protection in line with articles 6, 22 and 37 of the Convention;
(e) Guarantee the right to acquire Serbian citizenship for all children currently residing in the State party who would otherwise be stateless, regardless of their own, or their parents’, legal status."
2017
2017
Committee against Torture
§ 14. The State party should continue and intensify its efforts to facilitate access to a prompt and fair individualized asylum determination procedure in order to avoid the risk of refoulement. To this end, the State party should:
(a) Ensure that the Asylum Office is supported with personnel and financial and technical resources sufficient to be able to register asylum seekers in a timely manner, promptly issue their identity cards, conduct individualized interviews with the support of interpretation services and issue refugee status decisions within a reasonable time. The State should address these deficiencies in the new draft law on asylum, including the lack of time-bound obligations;
(b) Establish and ensure the implementation of a standardized and accessible asylum and referral procedure in international airports and transit zones;
(c) Guarantee access to independent, qualified and free-of-charge legal assistance and interpretation services for asylum seekers throughout the asylum procedure, as well as in misdemeanour proceedings and when they are detained at the airport, in order to enable them to challenge the lawfulness of their deportation and detention orders.
2015
2015
NON-TREATY-BASED INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
REGIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS MECHANISMS
Regional Legal Instruments
Year of Ratification (Treaty) / Transposed (Directive) / Adoption (Regulation)
Observation Date
CPCSE, Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
2010
2010
2017
ECHRP1, Protocol 1 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11)
2004
2004
2017
ECHRP7, Protocol 7 to the European Convention on Human Rights (amended by protocol 11)
2004
2004
2017
ECPT, European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment of Punishment
2004
2004
2017
DETENTION COSTS
OUTSOURCING
FOREIGN SOURCES OF FUNDING FOR DETENTION OPERATIONS
GOVERNMENT BODIES
Ministry of Foreign Affairs http://www.mfa.gov.rs/en/
Ministry of Interior http://www.mup.gov.rs/wps/portal/en
Ministry of Justice https://www.mpravde.gov.rs/?change_lang=en
Protector of Citizens http://www.ombudsman.org.rs/
Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration https://kirs.gov.rs/eng
INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS
IOM Serbia https://serbia.iom.int/
OHCHR Serbia https://www.ohchr.org/en/countries/enacaregion/pages/rsindex.aspx
UNHCR Serbia http://www.unhcr.rs/en/
NGOs
Asylum Protection Centre http://www.apc-cza.org/en/
A11 Initiative for Economic and Social Rights https://www.a11initiative.org/en/home/
Belgrade Center for Human Rights http://azil.rs/en/
Crisis Response and Policy Centre http://www.crpc.rs/
Group 484 https://www.grupa484.org.rs/en/
Humanitarian Center for Integration and Tolerance http://hcit.rs/
Initiative for Development & Cooperation https://idcserbia.org/en/
International Aid Network https://ian.org.rs/home/
Praxis http://www.praxis.org.rs/index.php/en/
Psychosocial Innovation Network http://psychosocialinnovation.net/en/
Refugee Aid Serbia https://www.facebook.com/refugeeaidserbia/
MEDIA
Balkan Insight https://balkaninsight.com/
Kurir https://www.kurir.rs/news
Telegraf https://www.telegraf.rs/english
