STATEMENT – WORLD REFUGEE DAY

June 20, 2019

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We mark the World Refugee Day in 2019 with the highest number of forcibly displaced persons worldwide in the last 70 years. According to the UNHCR more than 70.8 million people are forcibly displaced in this moment with weak or no perspective for return to their countries of origin. This number includes refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced who will spend World Refugee Day away from their homes with unpredictable future.

Belgrade Centre for Human Right reminds the authorities of the Republic of Serbia that they have an obligation to consistently fulfil obligations stemming from the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol as well as to devote more efforts in order to provide efficient application of the national legal framework in the areas of asylum system and migration management.

We believe that the World Refugee Day belongs to all the people who were forced to flee their homes due to wars and severe violations of human rights and today we would like to share voices of those who came to our country seeking for refuge and protection:

We have security and peace, and most importantly, the people of Serbia have accepted us in their own society. Having the citizenship of Serbia in the future would be the greatest honor for us. Our message is: Helping people, despite geographical and racial differences, is the greatest humanitarian action in the world.

 3-member family from Iran, granted refugee status in the Republic of Serbia in 2019.

When I decided to leave my country, I dreamt to reach some safe place where I can build my future. Serbia is a safe place and I feel I’m at home. In order to be fully integrated in this society I need more working opportunities and help to meet new people in order to better understand the culture. The most important thing for refugees is to find a safe place and being able to live freely and fearless no matter where they are. 

Single women from Somalia, asylum seeker in the Republic of Serbia.

I feel safe. Serbia is a nice place to stay, people are polite and it’s close to our culture. I dream about normal and stable life, to improve my skills and have a better future. I need to improve my knowledge of the Serbian language, to have a job, to have Serbian friends, and of course to fall in love with a Serbian girl. My message for the World refugee day is:  no war brought any good to any nation, we are all people, our origin doesn’t matter and intolerance should not be accepted. Also, I hope that every country will have more patience and tolerance towards refugees.

Unaccompanied child from Syria, asylum seeker in the Republic of Serbia.

 

Belgrade Centre for Human Rights will continue to provide support to refugees and asylum seekers in the Republic of Serbia in order to support their efforts to find a safe place for living and a better future.  

 

Statement can be downloaded HERE.

 

Event: Culture Travels on Foot /21/6/4 PM/Dorćol Platz

June 17, 2019

 

How is a culture born, and how does it develop?

How do we acquire cultural patterns – does it happen spontaneously, or is it forced upon us?

Is it possible to divide cultures by their nationalities, or can they go beyond borders and then become parts of regional or global cultures?

Is it even possible to mark borders on one culture– or does it walk freely nevertheless?

By asking these questions, we celebrate the World Refugee Day, and invite all of you to join us at the afternoon gathering in the Dorćol Platz yard, from 4 to 7 PM, with the leitmotiv:

English: Culture Travels on Foot
Serbian: Kultura se prenosi peške
Arabic: تنتقلالثقافةبخطى
Farsi: فرهنگراباراهرفتنانتقالمیدهند

culture travels on foot

Before you join us at the event, here’s something to think about: how many local songs are actually originally from your country? Maybe you have had the chance to hear them in a different language as well? What does it mean?

We would like to believe that culture goes beyond borders; it starts and paves its way spontaneously, on its own, by word of mouth and through people’s footsteps, and is being exchanged this way.

This precise travel of culture is what we want to celebrate by getting together, along with nibbles, singing, dancing and socializing! We will be munching on delicious food, listen to the music that makes us move, participate in a music workshop about songs that cross barriers easily, and spend the afternoon in getting to know the similarities of different cultures.

You will have the chance to experience the following activities:

  • Two maps waiting for you to draw in your own path – both the physical and the spiritual
  • Open intercultural workshop on songs that are also migrants in their own way
  • Chill guitar sounds and music that moves
  • Dreams
  • New friends, new languages and new cultures you can explore

How does it all fit in one day?

This is the program:

4:00 │Opening ceremony

4:15 │Filling out the maps, socializing with drinks, food, and the sounds of the guitar

4:45 │Open intercultural workshop – presenting songs that have made their ways, on

             foot, to different cultures

6:00 │Viewing of the animated movie «Fairytale»

7:00 │Farewell

See you in Dorćol Platz on Friday!

Vidimo se!

إلى اللقاء
به امید دیدار

Republic of Serbia should immediately provide a system of protection for unaccompanied or separated refugee and migrant children

June 11, 2019

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights wants to draw the attention of the public to the fact that the existing system of protection of unaccompanied or separated refugee and migrant children is characterized by numerous systemic issues that need to be addressed without delay. In 2017, the Committee on the Rights of the Child stressed that the Republic of Serbia should urgently ensure the full inclusion of unaccompanied or separated children 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. Placing children in separate centres that are provide safe growing environment and are adequate for their needs represent the minimum requirement to reduce the risks of child exposure to persons who might exploit their vulnerability. In light of the Committee’s recommendations to the Republic of Serbia, it is necessary to undertake urgent measures necessary to protect unaccompanied or separated children from smuggling rings.

The latest case of tragically murdered child illustrates that the current state of affairs does not contribute to the reduction of risks to which unaccompanied or separated children are exposed daily. In addition, we are witnessing the several years long practice of all countries on the so-called Balkan mixed-migration route resorting to violence and collective expulsion of refugees and migrants to neighbouring countries. Such situation further creates the lack of trust of unaccompanied or separated migrant and refugee children in existing protection systems.

This case should be observed primarily from the perspective of the rights of the child who escaped the horrors of war, who has been neglected for years and left on his own. The tragically perished child was a victim of arbitrary deprivation of liberty in the Republic of Serbia in January this year. After the Croatian border police returned him to the territory of the Republic of Serbia, his identity and age were wrongly listed in the police and court records. The misdemeanour procedure was initiated and concluded before the Misdemeanour Court in Bačka Palanka in the course of the same day and without the engagement of an interpreter. Moreover, the acting judge stated in the judgement that the child waived the right to appeal, subsequently leading to a decision replacing the fine with a ten-day long imprisonment.

The case also indicated that the security in the asylum centres is not at a satisfactory level, that children are almost completely unprotected from the contact with smugglers and that this tragic case should be a serious warning to the competent authorities in the Republic of Serbia to establish a special child-friendly accommodation capacities that could fully meet the needs of unaccompanied or separated migrant and refugee children.

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights expresses hope that this tragic case will urge the Republic of Serbia to undertake all measures without delay with the aim of reducing the risks of repetition of such incidents. A shift in this regard can only be achieved through coordinated actions and cooperation between the Ministry of Interior, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration and the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veterans’ and Social Affairs.

VOCATION AGAINST THE SENTENCE OF LIFE IMPRISONMENT WITHOUT A RIGHT TO CONDITIONAL RELEASE

May 8, 2019

We, the undersigned,

Recalling that all Serbian authorities are under the obligation to respect the provisions of the Constitution of the Republic of Serbia,[1]  the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,[2] the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms,[3] the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment[4] and other ratified international treaties, as well as rules of international customary law prohibiting torture and inhuman or degrading treatment and punishment in all circumstances. (more…)

CoolTour Tube Workshops in Belgrade

April 24, 2019

55875019_2415574958455026_5344651251533479936_oThree two-day workshops for young refugees and young people from Serbia were held in a period from 6 to 21 April in the Human Rights House in Belgrade. The workshops are part of the CoolTour Tube program which is part of the project Support to Refugees and Asylum-Seekers in Serbia supported by the UNHCR. (more…)