In the European Commission’s Serbia 2019 Report, the EC states that most Roma in Serbia have civil documentation, but emphasises that the procedure for registering the birth of children whose parents lack personal documents needs to be monitored, and related secondary legislation needs to be amended.

In this way, the European Commission has joined a significant number of international organizations and treaty bodies which have also pointed to this problem in their reports and recommended to Serbia to enable birth registration to every child immediately after birth. Similar recommendations have previously been produced for Serbia by the UN Human Rights Council, UN Human Rights Committee, UN Committee on the Rights of the Child and UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Last year, the European Parliament also called on Serbia to enable full realization of the right to timely birth registration, while Serbia has also committed to fulfil the UN Sustainable Development Goals, including, inter alia, the one to provide legal identity for all, including birth registration.

All these recommendations were produced because of the two by-laws that regulate the procedure for birth registration which prevent the birth registration immediately after birth of children whose mothers do not possess personal documents. In this way, in Serbia the right of the child to birth registration immediately after birth, which is also guaranteed by the ratified international conventions and Serbia’s Constitution and law, is violated. In the interpretation of the provisions of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, UNICEF states that birth registration “immediately after birth” implies the deadline of several days, rather than months. However, in Serbia, these procedures last long, in some cases even more than half a year.

This problem in Serbia almost exclusively affects Roma ethnic minority, since a number of Roma women still do not possess personal documents. In relation to this, Praxis has sent appeals to competent bodies to amend the disputable by-laws for the purpose of resolving this problem. 

Finally, the EC Serbia 2019 Report also points to other problems faced by the Roma population in Serbia, to the difficult social position of the Roma and the gap that exists between them and the majority population. It is, thus stated, among other things, that almost 60% of girls from Roma settlements are married at an early age. It also states that the right to parental allowance depends on the children being vaccinated, while only 12.7% of Roma children have received all recommended vaccines, whereas this percentage among non-Roma children is 70.5. The Report also points out that significantly fewer number of Roma children attend kindergarten, and that drastically fewer Roma students finish school, compared to non-Roma children. The Report also provides data that show higher unemployment rate among the Roma, compared to the rest of the population, and also draws attention to insufficient representation of Roma in the public administration. 

Praxis took part in the process of preparation of the EC Report, both through consultations and by sending a written contribution to the Report precisely emphasising the above-stated problems.

Praxis sent appeals to the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Minister of Health to undertake measures that will enable each child to be registered in the birth registry immediately after birth. 

Praxis sent these appeals because, there are still children born in Serbia who cannot get registered in the birth registry in cases when the mothers of these new-born children do not possess personal documents. In such situations, birth registration of children is not possible due to restrictive provisions of two by-laws which regulate the procedure for birth notification and registration in the birth registry. Thus, the Instruction on administering registry books and forms of registry books and the Rulebook on the procedure for the issuance of birth notification and form of the issuance of birth notification in a health care institution do not envisage the possibility of birth registration of new-born children in cases when the mothers do not possess documents.

Since the Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government and the Minister of Health are responsible for the adoption and amendments to these regulations, Praxis addressed them with the appeals to amend the disputable provisions and, in this way, to prevent the occurrence of new cases of legally invisible persons. In the stated appeals, Praxis has emphasised that the current situation represents the severe violation of the right of the child to birth registration immediately after birth, which is also guaranteed by the ratified international conventions and Serbian Constitution and law. A significant number of international organizations and treaty bodies have also recognized that the current situation is not satisfactory and provided recommendations to Serbia to resolve this problem.

A year ago, Praxis already sent an appeal to the Ministry for Public Administration and Local Self-Government for amendments of regulations. However, the Ministry responded that the normative framework enabled every person to be registered in the birth registry book, neglecting the fact that children whose mothers did not possess documents would not be able to get registered immediately after birth and that additional, often long-lasting procedures would have to be conducted for them. The fact that such situation represents the violation of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child is also confirmed by UNICEF interpretation according to which the registration “immediately after birth” implies the deadline of several days, rather than months. 

This problem in Serbia almost exclusively affects the members of Roma ethnic minority, because there is still a number of persons among this population who do not possess personal documents. In this way, their already difficult position is additionally aggravated and the marginalization and deprivation of rights only intensified.

On Thursday, 23 May 2019, the newly established Thematic Group on Early Childhood Development and Education of Children, coordinated by the Network of Organisations for Children of Serbia, held its first meeting. 

The meeting was dedicated to the formal establishment of the Thematic Group on Early Childhood Development and Education of Children, agreement on future work, dynamics, ways of cooperation, possible joint activities, identification of stakeholders, relevant decision makers and the media.

The meeting participants shared current information in the field of early childhood development, about relevant initiatives such as Call for Action of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, supported by UNICEF, development of early intervention models, creation of Internet Platform for Parents and Practitioners.

As a member of the newly-established Thematic Group, Jasmina Miković, Praxis Deputy Executive Director, shared the experience and findings of Praxis, especially pointing out the importance of investing in early childhood development without discrimination, which should be one of the important priorities because it would allow each child to fully enjoy the guaranteed rights. In addition, she stressed the importance of promoting the registration of every child into birth registry books immediately after birth, providing adequate living conditions, as well as working on the prevention and elimination of harmful practices such as child, early and forced marriages.

Praxis submitted to the UN Human Rights Committee its comments to the Serbia’s report on the implementation of the Committee’s recommendations issued as part of the Concluding Observations on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Serbia and focusing on the improvement of the situation of Roma in Serbia. Praxis’ report points out that Roma in Serbia continue to face problems and discrimination related to their rights to education, social protection and health care as well as access to public services and the availability of information about the provision of these services. It is particularly stressed that it is still impossible to register immediately after birth children whose mothers do not possess personal documents, that some children are left without citizenship after birth due to the failure to apply the provisions of the Law on Citizenship aimed at preventing statelessness among children born in Serbia, and that a significant number of Roma cannot register their permanent residence due to the practice of certain police stations and social welfare centres that is not in accordance with the law.

In 2017, the UN Human Rights Committee issued Concluding Observations on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in Serbia. In its Concluding Observations, the Committee highlighted certain problems faced by Roma in Serbia as particularly important and urgent, and issued recommendations for their elimination. At the same time, Serbia was requested to submit a report on the implementation of these recommendations to the Committee within a year. At the beginning of 2019, Serbia submitted such a report, but a large number of Committee’s recommendations had not been appropriately implemented. Thus, the Committee’s recommendation that children whose parents do not possess personal documents must be allowed to register into birth registry books has not been complied with.

The Commissioner for Protection of Equality, acting upon a complaint lodged by Praxis, established that the Primary School "Branko Radičević" in Bujanovac, the Administration of Bujanovac Municipality and the Ministry of Justice, Science and Technological Development had violated, within their respective purviews, Articles 6 and 19 of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination because they failed to implement appropriate and effective measures to prevent and eliminate the formation of Roma-only classes in the said school. 

The formation of segregated classes in the school year 2018/19 was certainly a reason for addressing the Commissioner, but Praxis also pointed out that segregation had existed in this school for many years, that only-Roma classes existed in almost all grades, that there was an obvious disproportionate representation of Roma pupils and their parents in the Student Parliament, the Parent Council and the School Board, that annual school plans were burdened with stereotypical and discriminatory statements, and that the local environment was not supportive for the Roma community. In the procedure, the Commissioner established that Praxis’ allegations were founded and recommended measures for desegregation, but also for involving members of the Roma national minority in the work of school bodies, and training of all employees about discrimination, as well as measures aimed at developing a spirit of tolerance, respect for diversity and non-discriminatory behaviour.

The segregation in the Primary School "Branko Radičević" in Bujanovac is not an isolated case, and Serbia is expected to specifically consider the problem of segregation in education, as the European Commission pointed in its Serbia 2019 Report. Praxis also tried to stress this specific social problem which seriously violates the rights of the child by lodging complaints with the Commissioner for Protection of Equality on earlier occasions. However, the Commissioner either avoided to establish discrimination despite the existence of segregation in the PS "Vuk Karadžić" in Niš or considered that the right to education referred to in the Law on the Fundamentals of the Education had been violated, and not the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination, as claimed in the complaint against the PS "Jovan Jovanović Zmaj" in Surdulica.   

Bearing in mind the position so far regarding the existence of discrimination in the cases of segregation of Roma pupils, we reiterate the importance of the Commissioner’s decision in this particular case, and believe that the issued opinion will have a significant impact on the actions and work of public institutions, and that it will contribute to the suppression and eradication of this harmful social phenomenon.

Download the Commissioner's opinion here.

See media coverage:
RTS: "Children from Bujanovac without prejudice, education for parents as well" 
JuGmedia: "Discrimination: All Roma children separated in special classrooms" 
ROMInfomedia: "Segregation of Roma children in Bujanovac established" 
ROMInformedia: "BUJANOVAC: Primary School "Branko Radičević" will not act upon the Commissioner's recommendation, Roma classes remain" 
Blic: "All Roma children put in the same class" - Non-governmental organization pointed out at discrimination in Bujanovac 

More than 150 participants attended the Eurochild General Assembly and Members’ Day in Brussels on 17 and 18 April 2019, making it the largest gathering in Eurochild’s history. On that occasion, the Network of organizations for children of Serbia - MODS, as a member of the Eurochild’s National Partner Networks, was represented by Jasmina Miković from Praxis, President of the MODS Management Board.

The aim of this annual gathering of Eurochild members was to reflect on child rights advocacy in a changing Europe, share experiences and gain new knowledge in specific topics linked to Eurochild’s strategic goals, in order to be able to work/influence more effectively and work with the next EU legislature. Therefore, the meeting was attended by the high level EU stakeholders from the European Commission, who provided input to Eurochild’s advocacy work for children’s rights.

This meeting was the opportunity for Eurochild to reaffirm its Strategic Plan 2019-2021, as the result of a process of reflection with Eurochild members, Management Board, and children and young people. In the period 2019-2021, Eurochild’s advocacy will focus on tackling child poverty and social exclusion (promoting a children’s rights approach), reforming child welfare and protection systems (promoting systemic change centred on strengthening families and communities), and making children’s rights visible at the highest political level. 

The Eurochild network elected a new President of the Management Board, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, who was formerly the President of Malta. The newly-elected President said: „I’m delighted to see child participation so central to the work of Eurochild. I’d like to use my time as President of this prestigious organisation to establish child participation as common practice across Europe, and to lead the way globally. I also intend to help Eurochild strengthen its ties with international organisations and the Council of Europe. By working with its 47 member states and their respective Parliamentary Delegations, Eurochild can bring children’s rights into the core of Parliaments across the European region.”

Eurochild also welcomed new board members and a completely new council of children aged 11 and upwards who will be Eurochild’s sounding boards and visionaries. The General Assembly approved membership of 17 new organisations and individuals to the Eurochild network and recognised a new national partner network ZIPOM from Slovenia, which brings Eurochild count of National Partner Networks to 23. 

During the Member’s Day, several working groups were organised to discuss about the EU presidencies and institutionalising child participation in the EU institutions, the next EU budget from a child rights perspective and the Child Guarantee, taking Eurochild’s Child Participation Strategy to the next level, early childhood development, the process of deinstitutionalisation and Eurochild’s governance and network development.

In addition to the General Assembly and Members’ Day, Jasmina participated at the Eurochild CIAC (Children in Alternative Care) thematic working group meeting on 16 April, dedicated to the future of Eurochild’s work towards achieving its 2nd Strategic Goal „Ending institutional care for all children across Europe“. During the group exercise and discussion, Jasmina presented some of the main opportunities and challenges with regards to deinstitutionalisation in Serbia.

See video: Eurochild: a glimpse into 2018  

Eurochild wants to see an end to child poverty and social exclusion, end to institutional care for all children in Europe and greater recognition of children’s rights in political discourse. The network advocates for better investment in children through EU funds and policies, increased recognition of children’s voices in public decision-making and reform of child protection systems across Europe through the Opening Doors for Europe’s Children campaign. Ahead of the European Elections 2019, Eurochild is campaigning for a European Parliament that stands for children with the Vote for Children campaign.   

In April 2019, Praxis continued providing assistance to refugees/migrants, through information, psychosocial support, referrals to the targeted assistance provided by various organisations/institutions or covering the costs of transport to the asylum and reception centres.

A total of 833 newly arrived refugees/migrants were informed about current situation in Serbia and the region, legal status and available legal options (seeking asylum in Serbia, assisted voluntary return to the country of origin, possibilities of family reunification abroad), accommodation in asylum centres (AC) or transit-reception centres in Serbia, means of transportation to the assigned centres, other rights and available services (medical care, psychosocial support, food, NFIs, various workshops for refugees/ migrants etc).

Download the whole Protection Monitoring Report for April 2019 here.