Over the past few days, Praxis recorded two cases in which the notaries requested from citizens to pay drastically higher fees for the verification of signature than those prescribed by the notarial tariff. Thus, the Praxis beneficiaries were asked to pay about 4,000 dinars in Kragujevac and about 5,000 dinars in Belgrade, although according to the Public Notary Tariff, this service should be charged 360 dinars.

In both cases, the affected persons did not possess ID cards and were not registered in citizenship registry books. Therefore, in order to certify the power of attorney, their identity was determined on the basis of the statements of two witnesses, and for this reason the notaries wanted to charge a much higher fee for the verification of signature, although the Public Notary Tariff does not allow the increase of fee in such cases.

Due to the improper conduct of the notary, Praxis assisted the damaged party to lodge a complaint with the Chamber of Public Notaries. Praxis expects the Chamber to respond properly and thus prevent the occurrence of similar cases in the future. It is extremely important to ensure that the prescribed tariff is strictly applied, because the people who do not possess personal identification documents and whose identity must be established with the help of witnesses are almost exclusively legally invisible Roma. They are undoubtedly among the poorest citizens, and now they are required to pay more than a tenfold amount of the fee prescribed for verification. In addition, the powers of attorney are certified with the aim of initiating procedures for registration into civil registry books, which should enable them to finally become full and equal citizens. The described unlawful practice of certain notaries prevents the legally ignorant and poverty-stricken Roma in doing so.

It should be mentioned that as of 1 March 2017 the verification of signatures, transcripts and manuscripts can be performed only by notaries. At that time, the President of the Chamber of Public Notaries said that the notarial verification would be cheaper than it was in the municipalities. However, this does not apply to legally invisible Roma who previously were completely exempted from the payment of republic fees for the verification of documents used for registering into civil registry books. Now, however, not only are they not exempted from the payment of fees, but they are placed in a much more difficult position than other citizens with the unlawful conduct of certain notaries. In fact, the poorest citizens are required to pay the most. Therefore, the urgent response of the Chamber of Public Notaries is necessary in order to put an end to and prevent this unacceptable practice of certain notaries.

Marija Dražović, Praxis Legal Advisor, talked about the beginning of the implementation of the ten-month project Contributing to Public Administration Reform in Kraljevo. The project will be implemented in the period 1 June 2017 - 31 March 2018, as part 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.

See the footage here.

At the beginning of May, according to the estimate of Praxis’ mobile team, the number of people staying in the abandoned warehouses behind the Bus Station in Belgrade, outside of reception and asylum centres, was around 1300. On May 4, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration announced the relocation of refugees/migrants to the asylum and reception centres, and requested support from the organisations working in the territory of Belgrade, in order to complete the relocation without incidents and as soon as possible. According to the information received from the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, after completed relocation, there were 6,558 refugees/migrants in the reception and asylum centres in Serbia.  After relocation, Praxis’ mobile team every day met and talked to 50-300 refugees/migrants, including the newly arrived ones, the refugees/migrants accommodated in the Asylum Centre Krnjača and the Reception Centre Obrenovac and those who returned to Belgrade after an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Croatian, Hungarian or Romanian border.  The abandoned warehouses, in which a large number of refugees/migrants had been staying, were demolished after completed relocation.  

Praxis continued its field work and provided a total of 269 newly arrived refugees and migrants (162 adults and 107 children) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is fewer than in the previous month. Out of the total number of newly arrived refugees and migrants, 124 persons or 46.1% of them were from Afghanistan.  Nineteen (19) newly arrived refugees and migrants were from Syria, which accounts for 7.1% of the total number. Twenty-eight (28) refugees and migrants came from Iraq (10.4%), mainly families. 62 refugees and migrants (23%) were from Pakistan, mainly single men and unaccompanied and separated children (UASC), like in the previous period. A total of 17 refugees/migrants (6.3%) came from other countries, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Eritrea and India. 

In order to avoid sleeping rough in Belgrade after relocation, the newly arrived refugees/migrants waiting for registration in the police station or organised transport to asylum and reception centres, could spend a night in Miksalište.   Between 15 i 60 persons used this opportunity every evening. Since the situation in Belgrade has changed, some of the organisations that were present in the filed in Belgrade reorganised their work so that now some of their activities are carried out in the asylum and reception centres and some in Belgrade.   

Download the Protection Monitoring Report HERE.

Since 1 June 2017 Praxis has been implementing the ten-month 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 main project goal is to have transparent data on public administration reform at the local level, improve the service role of local administrative bodies and the knowledge of citizens about it, improve the mechanisms of cooperation of the local self-government with citizens and civil society organisations and contribute to better embed the principles of public administration in local decisions and manner of providing services.

During the implementation of the project, the most important activities are focused on the analysis of decision-making and policy-making process at the local level, monitoring the implementation of the Law on General Administrative Procedure, the public awareness campaign, advocacy for ensuring the consistent application of the Law on General Administrative Procedure and publishing reports presenting the most significant results of project activities and providing recommendations for improving the process of public administration reform at the local level.

Praxis will achieve and promote project goals in close cooperation with Radio Television Kraljevo and Ibarske novosti as well as other local media. 

Media coverage: Ibarske novosti

                        RTV KV 

In April, according to the estimate of Praxis’ mobile team, the number of people staying outside of reception and asylum centres was 1000-1500. Most people stayed in the abandoned warehouses behind the Bus Station in Belgrade. A significant number of people also stayed in the tents erected in the parking lot near the Bus Station. Their number reached over 150 by the end of the month. Between 40 and 60 unaccompanied and separated children (UASC) had the opportunity to sleep in the MSF tents, while up to 80 people slept in Miksalište. The overall number of refugees/migrants present in Belgrade every day varied depending of the number of newly arrived refugees/migrants, those who arrived in Belgrade from the Asylum Centre Krnjača, and those who returned to Belgrade after an unsuccessful attempt to cross the Croatian, Hungarian or Romanian border.

An important event in this reporting period took place on April 12th, when the European Commission published its first comprehensive framework for the protection of children in migration. The Communications envisage a set of principles and recommendations aimed at protecting migrant children, regardless of whether they are arriving with their families or unaccompanied:

1.    Swift identification and protection upon arrival
2.    Adequate reception conditions for children
3.    Swift status determination and effective guardianship
4.    Durable solutions and early integration measures
5.    Addressing root causes and protecting children along migrant’s routes outside the EU

The integral text of the Communication from the Commission to European parliament and the Council – The protection of children in migration is available at this link.

Praxis continued its field work in April and provided a total of 445 newly arrived refugees and migrants (307 adults and 138 children) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is fewer than in the previous month. Out of the total number of newly arrived refugees and migrants, 202 persons or 45.4% of them were from Afghanistan.  Four (4) newly arrived refugees and migrants were from Syria, which accounts for 0.9% of the total number. Thirty (30) refugees and migrants came from Iraq (6.7%), mainly families. 107 refugees and migrants (24%) were from Pakistan, mainly single men and UASC, like in the previous period. A total of 85 refugees and migrants (19.1%) arriver from Sri Lanka, Libya, Egypt, Palestine, Bangladesh, Somalia, Tunisia, Eritrea, India, Tajikistan and Ukraine.

Download the Protection Monitoring Report HERE.

The Equal Rights Trust (ERT), Praxis and Sandžak Committee for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms call civil society organisations (CSOs) to participate in monitoring and documenting cases of discrimination in Serbia.

We are looking for CSOs from Serbia that wish to receive funds for conducting monitoring and documenting cases of discrimination in Serbia. The funds will be allocated as five sub-grants. The amount of one sub-grant ranges from 2,000 EUR to 6,000 EUR, and the average amount is 5,000 EUR. 

Applications can be submitted by 31 May 2017 at 2:00 p.m. The selected organisations will start working on 8 June 2017. 

Monitoring and documenting cases of discrimination are the activities of the project “Improving the equality legal and policy framework in Serbia and monitoring implementation of equality norms and policies“, implemented by ERT, Praxis and Sandžak Committee for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms with the support of the European Union through EIDHR in the period December 2016 - December 2018.

Download the call for grant applications and the application form here.

A report published today by the European Network on Statelessness (ENS) on the use of immigration detention warns that stateless people are often detained for months and even years, without any real prospect of their cases being resolved. This is because immigration systems do not have appropriate procedures in place to identify those who are left without nationality and to protect stateless people.

The report calls on European governments to reform their immigration and detention systems to comply with their international human rights obligations and end the arbitrary detention of stateless people. States need to put in place procedures to identify people without nationality so that they don’t end up locked up in limbo.

Chris Nash, Director of the European Network on Statelessness said:

“Across Europe a failure by states to put in place effective systems to identify stateless people leaves them exposed to repeated and prolonged detention. These men, women and children fall between the cracks, because no country will recognise them as nationals. This is preventable, and today we are publishing a clear agenda for change which will help end this travesty.”

Angela Li Rosi, Deputy Director of UNHCR Bureau for Europe said:

“Stateless persons across Europe risk serious violations of their right to liberty and security of person. They can face repeated and prolonged detention not because they committed a crime but because they are not allowed to stay in the country. They are told they don’t belong anywhere. Their children are invisible, their families do not exist. UNHCR will continue to work with ENS to support States in ending this human suffering in Europe.”

A statement signed by civil society organisations and leading lawyers and academics from over 30 European countries will be sent to governments highlighting that consensus is building in Europe that the current use of immigration detention is unsustainable, harmful, and, in many cases, unlawful.

Download the report here.

There were two important new developments in March. One refers to the amendments to the Law on Asylum in Hungary, under which all asylum seekers who enter Hungary legally will be detained in the camps at the border with Serbia. This applies to single men, families with children and UASC older than 14. UASC under the age of 14 will be placed in the open-type accommodation in other parts of the country. Detention in the closed-type centres, i.e. mandatory detention, will last until the completion of the asylum procedure. Any person who enters Hungary illegally, bypassing the transit zone, will be pushed back. The second development is the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg in case of Ilias and Ahmed v. Hungary. In its judgment of 14 March 2017, the ECtHR found that Hungary violated several articles of the European Convention on Human Rights by detaining illegally two refugees from Bangladesh after their legal entry to Hungary in September 2015. During the shortened asylum procedure, they were kept in the detention unit Roszke in the conditions that can be considered inhuman and degrading. After the procedure, they were expelled to Serbia in an informal manner.   Although UNHCR proclaimed Serbia an unsafe third country in 2012, the Hungarian government adopted a decree in 2015 according to which Serbia is a safe third country - Decree no. 191/2015. (VII.21) on safe countries of origin and safe third countries.

Unlike the accommodation capacity in the reception and asylum centres, the number of newly arrived refugees/migrants continued to grow. As a result, the number of refugees/migrants staying in Belgrade increased. A large number of refugees/migrants are still trying to get hold of the EU with the help of smugglers or independently. On a daily basis, Praxis’ mobile team had a chance to talk with the refugees/migrants who had been pushed back from Hungary, Croatia and Romania, often by force, without the possibility to seek asylum. Hygiene of the abandoned warehouses in which refugees/migrants stay was improved thanks to the efforts of several organisations and volunteers. Another improvement consists of the introduction of breakfast, made possible by Oxfam, so that now refugees/migrants have three meals every day. 

Praxis continued its field work in March and provided a total of 659 newly arrived refugees and migrants (376 adults and 283 children) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is a slightly higher number of arrivals than in the previous month. Out of the total number of newly arrived refugees and migrants, 288 persons or 43.7% of them were from Afghanistan. A total of 55 newly arrived refugees and migrants, mainly families, were from Syria, which accounts for 8.3% of the total number. This percentage is smaller than the percentage from the previous period. 119 refugees came from Iraq (18.1%), mainly families, which is a higher percentage than in the previous period. 112 refugees (17%) were from Pakistan, all single men (75) and UASC (37), like in the previous period. A total of 52 refugees (7.9%) came from other countries - Sri Lanka, Libya, Egypt, Palestine.

Download the Protection Monitoring Report HERE.