With the support of UNHCR and UNDP, on 10 December 2009, at the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, a joint session of the Poverty Reduction Committee, the Committee for Labour, Veterans and Social Affairs and the Committee  for International Relations was held in form of a public hearing on the issue of “Statelessness and Poverty in Serbia“. Within the introduction, the participants were addressed by: Ms. Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic, Speaker of the National Assembly, Mr. Eduardo Arboleda, UNHCR Representative in Serbia, Mr. Sasa Gajin, representative of the Center for Advanced Legal Studies and Ms. Ivanka Kostic, Executive Director of Praxis.

At the beginning of the joint session the participants were addressed by the Speaker of the National Assembly, Prof. Dr Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic. In her statement, the Speaker emphasized that the problem of statelessness was usually mentioned as part of the access to human and minority rights issue. She stressed that today’s gathering demonstrated the determination of the National Assembly to address this problem in an all-inclusive manner. Statistics show that at least 17,000 persons in Serbia have no citizenship, the majority being the “legally invisible” persons of Roma nationality who live on the social margins and face problems in exercising their civil rights. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia guarantees access to human rights, as well as the right to legal person. The National Assembly ratified many international and regional agreements within the field of human rights, passed the Law on National Minority Councils and the Law against Discrimination, all indicating a determination in seeking a systemic solution for the problem of statelessness. She presented the advocacy activities conducted by international agencies and non-governmental organizations for the adoption of the Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law and invited all members of the Assembly and members of the executive authorities to jointly find a systemic solution for the “legally invisible” persons. The Speaker expressed her gratitude to the international organizations for the expert support that they provide to the institutions in Serbia and emphasized that the National Assembly would do all within its power for these persons to access their rights.

The UNHCR Representative in Serbia, Mr. Eduardo Arboleda suggested simple and concrete measures which could be implemented by the Assembly with the aim of preventing statelessness and poverty. First of all, he stressed the importance of the signing of the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness and the importance of the legislative amendments which would create mechanisms for an easier identification of stateless persons and the reduction of statelessness, emphasising the positive experience of other countries. He also invited members of the Assembly and members of the executive authority to support the systemic changes by adopting the suggested Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law and the new Law on Permanent and Temporary Residence. Finally, UNHCR activities in Serbia were presented, as well as a film which was made during the implementation of the Project “Social Inclusion and Access to Human Rights for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian Communities in the Western Balkans”.

The Chairman of the International Relations Committee, Mr. Miletic Mihajlovic, said that statelessness also presented a problem for the access to rights of national minorities and expressed the Committee’s full support in resolving this issue.

The Chairman of the Committee for Labour, Veterans and Social Affairs, Mr. Meho Omerovic, stated that the Committee would, within its authority and through the competent Ministry, work on amending the current laws, in order to achieve bearable living conditions for such persons. He announced that a new Law on Social Protection would be passed, which would define provision of urgent response measures to stateless persons until they acquire citizenship, enabling them to exercise other measures of protection provided by the state. 

Ms. Ivanka Kostic, Executive Director of Praxis and Mr. Sasa Gajin from the Center for Advanced Legal Studies made a brief presentation of the problems encountered in practice, activities of the non-governmental sector, suggested solutions in the Model Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law and current attempts to draw attention of the competent ministries to the problem of the “legally invisible” persons.  They expressed their concern regarding the absence of the representatives of the Ministry for Public Administration and Local Self-Government, who persistently evade attending meetings aimed at finding solutions for problems faced by the persons who are not recognized before the law.

Apart from the representatives of the Assembly, the public hearing was attended by representatives of the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy, Office of the National Security Council, the non-governmental sector and international organizations. During the discussion it was emphasized that there were no adequate mechanisms for protection of persons without citizenship, especially mechanisms for their identification, that statelessness was related to problems of poverty and crime, which could be issues of national and regional security, and that the problem should be solved proactively and not repressively. The issues of readmission and visa liberalization were also discussed in relation to statelessness, as well as the cooperation of the non-governmental sector, international organizations and competent ministries. 

At the end of the discussion, the Chairman of the Poverty Reduction Committee, Ms. Snezana Stojanovic-Plavsic summed up the results of the discussion and concluded that all of the participants agreed that there were no political and legal obstacles for the adoption of the Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law which would systemically solve this problem, and assessed that partnership of all actors is of great importance in the process of adopting such an important law.

Praxis launched an Initiative for Legislative Review of the Article 6, Paragraph 11 of the Rules of Procedure for Exercising Right from Obligatory Health Insurance before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia. The Initiative points to the fact that the aforementioned provision of the Rules of Procedure is contrary to the Law on Health Insurance.

Namely, the Article 22 of the Law on Health Insurance explicitly states that persons of Roma ethnicity who due to their traditional way of life, do not have permanent/temporary residence, may be beneficiaries of health care. There is no doubt that the legislator intended to ensure access of this category of persons to health care. This regulation of the Law may also, without a doubt, be applied to Roma IDPs who do not have permanent/ temporary residence.

On the other hand, Article 6 of the Rules of Procedure, however, derogates the application of this legal rule by stating that the insured must provide a personal statement that he/she is a person of Roma ethnicity, as well as his/her registration of temporary residence. In this way, persons who do not have their residence registered, for instance due to the fact that they live in an illegal Roma settlement - which is often the case with Roma IDPs - are actually deprived of the rights from health insurance, and exercise of the legal right to using health care services.

In its reply dated 18th March 2010, Constitutional Court informed Praxis that the aforementioned Rules of Procedure were no longer in force as of 10th March 2010 on the grounds of provision of Article 152 of the new Rules of Procedure for Exercising Right from Obligatory Health Insurance, adopted by the Administrative Board of the Republic Institute for Health Insurance on 11th December 2009. On that occasion, the Constitutional Court invited Praxis to inform them whether the Initiative was still in force and whether Praxis would change it in accordance with changed circumstances.

Therefore, Praxis changed the Initiative (Submission) in accordance with the new Rules of Procedure which, in fact, took over the same solution in relation to disputable Article 6, but it is mentioned in the new Rules of Procedure in Article 7.

Download (Serbian only): Initiative for Legislative Review of the Article 6, Paragraph 11 of the Rules of Procedure for Exercising Right from Obligatory Health Insurance

Download (Serbian only): Rules of Procedure

Download: Submission

Amendments of the Rules of Procedure for Exercising Right from Obligatory Health Insurance, which were adopted by the Republic Institute for Health Insurance on 9th July 2010, brought changes which significantly facilitate access to health care by the persons of Roma ethnicity. Article 7, Paragraph 11 of the Rules of Procedure was changed, on the grounds of which the Roma will from now on be able to obtain health booklet even if they do not have temporary residence registered.

What preceded the change of the Article 7, Paragraph 11 was the Praxis Initiative for Legislative Review of the aforementioned Article before the Constitutional Court of Serbia. The Initiative pointed to the fact that the disputable article was contrary to a provision of the Law on Health Insurance, whose aim was to enable issuance of health booklets to the Roma who, due to their traditional way of life, do not have permanent/temporary residence. During the validity of the previous (not amended) Article 7, Paragraph 11 of the Rules of Procedure, they could not obtain health booklet since, contrary to the Law, the Rules of Procedure obliged them to register temporary residence. Thus, an entire group of population, which is one of the most socially vulnerable groups in Serbia, was denied access to health care.

A few months after launching the Initiative, through communication with the Directorate for Health Insurance and Legal Affairs of the Republic Institute for Health Insurance, Praxis found out that this body had received a directive from the Constitutional Court requesting opinion on the launched Initiative, and that the amendments should be adopted which would harmonize the Rules of Procedure with the Law. Such solution was adopted through amendments of the Rules of Procedure in July 2010. Illegal condition related to registration of temporary residence for the Roma who, due their traditional way of life, do not have permanent or temporary residence was abolished.

The outcome of Praxis Initiative and adopted amendment of the disputable Article of the Rules of procedure is simplified exercise of right to health care by all persons of Roma ethnicity who cannot provide evidence on their place of residence. Instead of the certificate on temporary residence which had been requested earlier and which they could not obtain, in the future, they will prove their address of residence through a personal statement, which is a significant improvement in exercising right to health care by the Roma.

There are thousands of Roma in Serbia without permanent place of residence, who are constantly looking for opportunities for earning to provide for survival. Even in case they stay in one place, finding accommodation in illegal settlements, they still do not have the possibility to register permanent or temporary residence. Thanks to Praxis initiative, Roma without permanent address are finally given the possibility to obtain health booklet.

Eve though the procedure related to Praxis Initiative before the Constitutional Court has not been formally completed yet and Praxis, as the party which launched the Initiative, was not informed by the Court about the amendments of the Rules of Procedure, the amendments came into force on 17 July 2010. In spite of that, it has been noticed that the news about change of conditions for exercising right to health care by persons of Roma ethnicity has only recently started reaching branches of the Republic Institute for Health Insurance. Some branches refuse to apply the amended Article 7, Paragraph 11 of the Rules of Procedure. However, Praxis experience confirms that some branches have started applying the amended Rules of Procedure and issuing health booklets to the Roma on the basis of personal statement on place of residence. Thus, a client of Praxis of Roma ethnicity obtained a health booklet for the first time after ten years of exclusion from the health insurance system.

Download (Serbian only): Initiative for Legislative Review of the Article 6, Paragraph 11 of the Rules of Procedure for Exercising right from obligatory health insurance

The persons of Roma ethnicity without registered permanent or temporary residence are again denied access to health insurance. Some branches of the National Health Insurance Fund again request from persons of Roma ethnicity to enclose a proof of residence registration when applying for health insurance, and those who have not registered residence are prevented from acquiring the status of insured person. Those Roma who previously succeeded in obtaining health cards without residence registration are now not allowed to certify them.

Previously, the Rulebook on the Way and Procedure of Exercising the Rights from Compulsory Health Insurance stipulated the obligation of enclosing a proof of residence registration. However, after Praxis initiated a procedure for the assessment of legality of the Rulebook before the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia, in July 2010, the Rulebook was amended and the obligation of enclosing a proof of residence registration was abolished for the persons of Roma ethnicity without permanent or temporary residence. The Rulebook was aligned with the Law, and many Roma were enabled to obtain health cards for the first time. Until the last month, these people were obtaining their health cards on the basis of Article 22 of the Law on Health Insurance that allowed Roma to acquire the status of insured person, regardless of whether they had a registered temporary residence, and on the basis of amended Article 7, point 11 of the Rulebook, which stipulates that instead of evidence on temporary residence, these persons may give a personal statement on their address.

When denying the right to health insurance to one of the most vulnerable groups in Serbia, the branches of the National Health Insurance Fund refer to the Regulation on the Content, Form and Manner of Submitting a Single Application for Compulsory Social Insurance, which stipulates that persons of Roma ethnicity should also submit a proof of residence registration. Such acting of HIF branches is not only contrary to the Law on Health Insurance, but also constitutes a violation of constitutional guarantees under which the achieved level of human and minority rights cannot be lowered.

Since the Roma who were not able to register their place of temporary residence were denied the right to health insurance in an unlawful manner, on 27 April 2012, Praxis submitted to the Constitutional Court an initiative for assessing the legality of Regulation, requesting from the court to issue a decision establishing that the disputed provision of Regulation was contrary to the Law on Health Insurance.
 
Related news:
 
Initiative for Legislative Review of Art. 7, Par. 11 of Rules of Procedure from Health Insurance
 
A Step Forward in Roma National Minority Exercising Right to Health Care
 

The human rights organisations strongly condemn the racist protests that erupted in Resnik on 7 April 2012 after the announced relocation of Roma from the informal settlement Belvil. At the same time, we use the opportunity to point out to the seriousness of this problem, and to send a message to those who are responsible for its deepening that they must assume responsibility for populist statements that encourage racist violence. Racism is encouraged, to a great extent, by the populist statements of politicians who collect cheap political points by inciting an anti-Roma sentiment.

In this sense, although the Mayor of Belgrade publicly condemned the attacks against the police that provided security during the installation of containers, the last two months he has been constantly and publicly stigmatising the persons of Roma ethnicity in the context of their right to adequate housing and protection against forced evictions. We are hereby reminding that in his response to the Mayor of Laarne, a Belgian city, Dragan Djilas sarcastically and arrogantly offered to deport the Belgrade Roma, residents of informal settlements, for whose rights the aforementioned Mayor advocated. Thus, Dragan Djilas sent a clear message that Roma were not welcome or considered to be the equal citizens of Belgrade and Serbia. Repressive measures and calling on the application of laws cannot produce the expected results if at the same time the politicians send mixed signals through demagogic rhetoric aimed at attracting voters.The human rights organisations strongly condemn the racist protests that erupted in Resnik on 7 April 2012 after the announced relocation of Roma from the informal settlement Belvil.
 
At the same time, we use the opportunity to point out to the seriousness of this problem, and to send a message to those who are responsible for its deepening that they must assume responsibility for populist statements that encourage racist violence. Racism is encouraged, to a great extent, by the populist statements of politicians who collect cheap political points by inciting an anti-Roma sentiment.

In this sense, although the Mayor of Belgrade publicly condemned the attacks against the police that provided security during the installation of containers, the last two months he has been constantly and publicly stigmatising the persons of Roma ethnicity in the context of their right to adequate housing and protection against forced evictions. We are hereby reminding that in his response to the Mayor of Laarne, a Belgian city, Dragan Djilas sarcastically and arrogantly offered to deport the Belgrade Roma, residents of informal settlements, for whose rights the aforementioned Mayor advocated. Thus, Dragan Djilas sent a clear message that Roma were not welcome or considered to be the equal citizens of Belgrade and Serbia. Repressive measures and calling on the application of laws cannot produce the expected results if at the same time the politicians send mixed signals through demagogic rhetoric aimed at attracting voters.

At the same time, we emphasise that racist attacks are rarely prosecuted, and that hatred is rarely taken into account as a perpetrator’s motive, while the pronounced sentences are either probationary or below the legal minimum. This statement is supported by an extremely alarming fact that the six perpetrators of multi-day racist violence in the village Jabuka in 2010 were sentenced to probation.

On this occasion, we repeat that the containers are not an adequate solution, not only because they cannot provide the basic material conditions for a dignified human life, but also because the segregated container settlements neither contribute to the substantial integration of Roma nor promote interculturalism and coexistence of different ethnic groups.

We demand that the perpetrators of this violence be prosecuted and that the government officials unambiguously condemn this behaviour. At the same time, we request from those who have been spreading racist messages for months to take responsibility for the consequences of their statements.

The members of Anti-Discrimination Coalition are: Centre for Advanced Legal Studies, Civil Rights Defenders, Labris – Lesbian Human Rights Organisation, Anti-Trafficking Centre, Network of the Committees of Human Rights in Serbia (CHRIS Network), Association of Students with Disabilities, Gayten LGBT, PRAXIS and Regional Centre for Minorities.

The statement is also supported by:

Youth Initiative for Human Rights - YIHR
Humanitarian Law Centre - FHP
Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM
Women in Black – WiB
Roma Women's Rights Center – Nis
Minority Rights Centre

In November 2008, UNHCR Serbia, OSCE Mission to Serbia and the Centre for Advanced Legal Studies, together with the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights of the Republic of Serbia, organized three roundtables in Nis, Novi Sad and Belgrade, at which the Model Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law was presented to professional public dealing with the issue of legally invisible persons every day. The roundtables were dedicated to analysis of the problems the legally invisible persons face, as well as the suggestions for solving them on the grounds of modern legal tools. They gathered representatives of numerous non-governmental and international organizations, representatives of judiciary and police, registrars who work on the subsequent registration cases, etc, who, through a public debate, gave their contribution to finding the best solution for the problems of legally invisible persons.

Praxis participated in all three roundtables and presented the problems related to conducting procedures of subsequent registration into registry books in practice and exercising the right to recognition before the law. Praxis also presented its publication “Legally Invisible Persons in Seven Stories – Why should the Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law be adopted”, which illustrates everyday problems of legally invisible persons and which was made to support the adoption of the Model Law.

Further lobbying for the Model Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law will continue, with the great support from the Ministry of Human and Minority Rights who took active part in this advocacy campaign, with the final aim to table the Model Law before the Government of the Republic of Serbia for adoption.

Download (Serbian only): The Model Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law

Download: Legally Invisible Persons in Seven Stories

Non-governmental organization Praxis, with the support of the EU and in cooperation with partner organizations Heinrich Böll Foundation, Regional Centre for Minorities and Dokukino, is organizing the Expert Debate “European Good Practices - Advocacy Tool in Serbia” that will be held on 29-30 September 2011 in the Hotel Sumadija, 8 Sumadijski trg St, Belgrade, from 10:00 a.m. - 06:00 p.m.

The Debate will host experts from the countries of the European Union and national experts who, in their joint dialogue, will once again try to draw attention to the problems of Roma population in Serbia in relation to enjoyment of the right to be recognized as a person before the law and the right to adequate housing, present examples of good practices in the Europe, propose the best solutions and formulate recommendations for their implementation.

Topics to be discussed:

The first day – 29 September 2011
The right to be recognized as a person before the law

• Examples of good practices, good systemic solutions and international standards on (subsequent) registration in birth registry book
• Subsequent registration of children whose parents do not possess necessary documents
• Subsequent registration of adults who have no knowledge of their date and place of birth, persons whose parents have passed away, are unknown or reside at an unknown location
• The Model Law on the Procedure for Recognition of Persons before the Law as one of possible solutions
• Protection of the right to be recognized as a person before the law and its correlation with other human rights

The second day –30 September 2011
The right to adequate housing

• Examples of good practices, good systemic solutions and international standards regarding evictions of informal Roma settlements
• Legal remedies in cases of evictions
• Examples of good practices, good systemic solutions and international standards regarding sustainable development of informal Roma settlements (possibilities for legalisation of settlements, possibilities for registration of permanent or temporary residence, etc.)
• Protection of the right to adequate housing and its correlation with other human rights

Download: Profiles of Experts   Agenda

The visitors to the Croatian island of Brac had the opportunity to watch the latest European documentaries shown at Supetar Super Film Festival in the period 10 - 14 July 2012. The festival selection included a number of documentaries from Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Russia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Great Britain, the Czech Republic and Croatia; after the screenings the audience exchanged impressions with the authors and voted for their favorites.

Based on the votes of the audience, the film (The Importance of) Hair of the Swedish director Christina Höglund won first place, the second place went to the film Bye bye c’est fini of the author Tora Mårtens, while Here I Am, the work of Irene Fabri, won third place.

The film Here I Am, produced by Praxis in cooperation with Dokukino and with financial support from the European Union, examines the existential problems of the residents of informal Roma settlements in Serbia and introduces viewers to the very much alive, parallel world of the marginalised whose faith and hope are their basic tools of survival. In the spirit of the marginalised and from the subjective point of view, the leading actor presents to the audience his friends whose fate often depends only on one paper or somebody's good will.

Let us be reminded that the residents of informal Roma settlements in Serbia do not have identity documents, because they are not allowed to have their permanent residence registered. The lack of identity documents prevents them from finding jobs, educating children and enjoying other socio-economic rights. Some of them are also "legally invisible" persons, i. e. the persons who are not registered in birth registry books and therefore live outside the system of health care, social welfare and employment; they are socially excluded and exposed to various forms of discrimination.

In order to draw attention to the most marginalised minority group in Serbia, Praxis plans to continue to promote the film at other festivals in the country and abroad. The promotional video clips of the documentary can be viewed on YouTube through the links entitled Here I Am -Legally Invisible and Here I Am - Forced Evictions.

We hope that the recognition of the documentary Here I Am will remind the government that the problems of the residents of informal Roma settlements in Serbia should be resolved as soon as possible.

See also the blog posted on the website of the European Network on Statelessness: Giving a Face to the Invisible

On the occasion of completed eviction from an informal Roma settlement in Block 72 in New Belgrade, Praxis informs the public that this is one in a series of evictions that have not been carried out in compliance with the international standards that are binding on the Republic of Serbia, particularly the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms Racial Discrimination.

Download the statement (Serbian only): Statement on Eviction in Block 72

On 27 July 2010, together with the Coalition against Discrimination and other partner organizations, Praxis submitted a request to Nevena Petrusic, PhD, to decide without delay whether she will carry out her function of the Trustee for Protection of Equality or keep the post of a full time professor at the Faculty of Law in Nis. In accordance with the explicit provision of the Article 28 of the Law against Discrimination, Trustee for Protection of Equality cannot perform any professional duty.

In its letter to the Ombudsperson Sasa Jankovic, dated 3 August 2010, Praxis states that it supported the request of the Caolition against Discrimination because it completely agrees with understanding of the legal regulations on which the aforementioned request is grounded, and which have been explained in a document by Mr Sasa Gajin, PhD, the Coordinator of the Coalition and member of the Working Group for drafting the Law against Discrimination of the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy. Furthermore, Praxis supported this requests because it believes that Serbia needs a dedicated, strong and functional institution of Trustee for Protection of Equality which will be able to meet the obligations prescribed by the Law against Discrimination.

In its letter to the Ombudsperson, Praxis also enclosed the request of the Coalition against Discrimination addressed at the Trustee for Protection of Equality and the document on understanding legal regulations on which the request of a total of 31 non-governmental organizations is grounded.

Since the Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM also lodged an initiative to the Ombudsperson for submitting a proposal for bringing and authentic interpretation of the Law against Discrimination, Praxis believes that both initiatives before the Ombudsperson will be useful when deciding upon submitting the proposal for bringing and authentic interpretation of the Law against Discrimination.

Download (Serbian only): Request of the Coalition against Discrimination and partner organizations to the Trustee for Protection of Equality

Download (Serbian only): Document on legal regulations on which the Request to the Trustee for Protection of Equality is grounded