The European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and Praxis respectfully submitted their written comments concerning Serbia for consideration by the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) at its Concluding Observations of the 74th Session, which will be held from 16 January to 3 February 2017.

The ERRC and Praxis have undertaken regular monitoring of the human rights situation of Roma in Serbia and this report reflects the current priorities in our work in Serbia.

For more information, see the related announcement here.

On the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Roma girls in Serbia are “getting married” under the pretext that these marriages are a part of the tradition of the Roma community.  Child, early and forced marriages represent violation of the girls’ rights, they endanger their mental and physical health, expose them to a greater risk of domestic violence, lead to increased rates of school drop-out, and, later, to poverty and their economic dependence on a husband and the community. As such, they represent severe violation of women’s human rights.

Therefore, we would like to draw attention to the fact that it is necessary to prevent further neglect and abuse of girls who become victims of the emotional, mental and physical violence due to this harmful traditional practice. 

For more information, see the related announcement here.

The project "Improving the equality legal and policy framework in Serbia and monitoring implementation of equality norms and policies", implemented by Praxis, the Sandžak Committee for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms from Novi Pazar and the Equal Rights Trust from London, was presented in the Multimedia Centre Gallery in Novi Pazar on 8 February 2017. The project is financed by the European Union for the period December 2016 - December 2018.

Semiha Kačar - President of the Sandžak Committee for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, Vuk Raičević - Antidiscrimination and Gender Equality Programme Coordinator in Praxis and Joanna Whiteman - Co-director of the Equal Rights Trust spoke about the project and its objectives.

The overall objective of the project is to provide protection against all forms of discrimination in Serbia through legal and political reforms. The specific objective of the project is to improve the legal framework in the field of anti-discrimination and equality, as well as to support the civil society in Serbia to recognise discrimination and use the available mechanisms for protection against discrimination.

Non-governmental organisations at the local level will have the opportunity to actively participate in the implementation of certain project activities, such as organising advocacy campaigns, monitoring and documenting cases of discrimination, for which certain funds will be allocated.

See the footage of RTV Novi Pazar here. 

See the footage of SANA PRESS here.

For almost a week, the residents of the informal settlement “Cukaricka suma” have not been able to enter or leave the settlement by their vehicles. Specifically, last Saturday the barriers were set at the entrances to the settlement, and prevent the vehicles from accessing the settlement. Given that residents of the settlement mainly collect secondary raw materials and that they need vehicles to transport secondary raw materials, this practically means that they have been prevented from working for almost a week, and have been living with no incomes. In addition, neither ambulance vehicles nor fire-fighters can access the settlement. 

The residents of the settlement testify that barriers were set by the Greenery Belgrade’s machinery, in the presence of police and some official persons. The Municipality of Cukarica confirmed to Praxis that they were familiar with the barriers setting, but that the Municipality did not reach the decision to set up barriers, as such decision is not in its jurisdiction. Praxis was referred to address the Belgrade City Secretariat for Social Protection, as a competent body. The Secretariat for Social Protection, however, refused to talk about this problem, but requested that Praxis deliver questions in writing. 

Praxis was told by the Municipality of Cukarica that barriers had been set to prevent entering secondary raw materials and their burning, as smoke bothers the residents of the nearby buildings. However, the fact is that residents of the settlement “Cukaricka suma” have been collecting secondary raw materials for years and that their existence depends on it. Therefore, it is clear that they collect secondary raw materials to sell and not to burn them. 

In any case, no goal can justify the violation of the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the residents of a settlement to work and freedom of movement. In addition, it is the settlement mainly inhabited by internally displaced Roma from Kosovo, who were forced to leave their homes 18 years ago and have been living in this settlement since then in the improvised housing units without any infrastructure, in full poverty and utterly inhumane conditions. Despite many-year announcement of the competent institutions and bodies that they will start solving the housing issue of the settlement “Cukaricka suma”, it still has not happened. 

Moreover, by setting the barriers at the entrance to the settlement, their position has additionally worsened, bringing them closer to the edge of survival. In that situation, the residents of the settlement are left to the risk of being without any income, and in case of an accident or a disaster without a possibility to be provided with assistance, as the barriers prevent the access of the ambulance and fire truck.

It remains an open question why the authorities failed the test of proportionality, since setting the barrier is certainly not a fair balance between the general interest of the community and protection of the fundamental rights of individuals.

In early January, temperatures in Belgrade were dropping to as low as 15 degrees Celsius below zero. According to the estimates received from the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, at the beginning of the month about 2,000 people were sleeping rough in Belgrade, at parking lots and in abandoned warehouses (barracks) near the Belgrade Bus Station. 

The previously announced relocation of refugees/migrants sleeping rough in the Belgrade city centre began in the middle of the month, after adapting a former military facility in Obrenovac for that purpose. About 500 refugees/migrants from the barracks behind the Belgrade Bus Station were relocated to Obrenovac, out of which about 200 UASC.  In addition, in the middle of the month, MSF erected 5 tents with beds and heating for temporary overnight stay for potential UASC as well as refugees and migrants with health issues, used only as transit accommodation before transfer to the official facilities. Between 30 and 40 people, mostly UASC, sleep in the tents every night and thus are protected from cold and other health and safety risks to which they were exposed in the barracks. Given that after the relocation of refugees/migrants in January about 1,200 people (according to the estimates of the Commissariat and UNHCR) continued sleeping rough, in parks and abandoned barracks and warehouses, with scarce accommodation capacity still available in other asylum and reception centres, it is clear that the accommodation capacity is still insufficient to satisfy all the needs identified in the field. Moreover, in January, Hungary reduced the number of daily admissions to territory and asylum procedures from 20 to a total of 10 per working day (weekends excluded). This new development, along with the enhanced border controls and intensified violent pushbacks of refugees/migrants from Hungary and Croatia, will only increase the number of persons stranded in Serbia for a long time and in need of humanitarian assistance and protection. 

The situation in Belgrade is still alarming. The refugees/migrants in Belgrade still receive only one meal a day. The distribution of winter clothes and shoes was intensified in the second half of the month, which is an improvement compared to the previous period, but it is still insufficient to satisfy the needs of all those who are sleeping rough, still including a significant number of UASC.

Praxis continued its field work in January and provided a total of 382 newly arrived refugees/migrants (259 adults and 123 children) in Belgrade with relevant information, which is a smaller number of new arrivals than in the previous period as a result of extremely harsh weather conditions.

Download the Protection Monitoring Report HERE.

At the meeting held in late September 2016, the Kraljevo City Assembly adopted a decision on the compensation of the costs of in vitro fertilisation, specifying the conditions, criteria and procedure for exercising the right to the compensation of the costs of in vitro fertilisation. The text of this decision indicates the intention of establishing the scope of rights wider than the rights arising from mandatory health insurance, with the aim of including as many couples as possible in the procedure of in vitro fertilisation. Nevertheless, the decision envisages that a couple may exercise this right only if they have had permanent residence in the territory of the City of Kraljevo for at least three years before submitting a request. This permanent residence criterion excludes the possibility for the internally displaced persons residing in the territory of the City of Kraljevo even longer than three years (nearly 20,000 of them) to have the right to the compensation of the cost of in vitro fertilisation under equal conditions as other citizens.

Although the adoption of the aforementioned decision and the allocation of funds from the local budget for the financial support to the couples who are undergoing infertility treatment by procedures of bio-medically assisted fertilisation is a positive example of funds allocation, the requirement regarding the permanent residence of couples unjustifiably deprives the internally displaced citizens of Kraljevo of the right to the compensation of the costs of in vitro fertilisation thereby violating the principle of equal rights and obligations.

In order to point out that the disputed decision violates the principle of equal rights and obligations, thus contravening non-discrimination regulations, Praxis lodged a complaint with the Commissioner for Protection of Equality. Since the Kraljevo City Assembly altered the disputed decision, thus expressing its willingness to ensure the right to the compensation of the cost of in vitro fertilisation to all citizens under equal conditions, Praxis withdrew the complaint.

However, it is important to point out that by adopting the decisions that substantially improve the position of individuals and groups, as in this case, the principle of equity can be violated, regardless of the decision-makers’ intention. They must pay special attention to this, particularly taking into account the situation of vulnerable individuals and groups such as internally displaced persons.

On the other hand, the adoption of general acts that violate the right to equality of citizens is not a rare phenomenon, and one of the main causes for such a situation is certainly an insufficient knowledge of non-discrimination regulations, as well as a lack of sensitivity among decision-makers at the local level in cases where the basic values, such as the right to equity and equality, should be respected. Therefore, we want to draw attention to the necessity of strengthening the capacity and raising awareness among representatives of local authorities about the concept and forms of discrimination in order to avoid such cases in the future.