The advancement of Islamists in Iraq and Syria alongside unceasing clashes between government and rebel forces, the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan wherein the highest number of civilian casualties in the last 15 years was recorded, as well as the expansion of territories under control of ethnic and religious rebels in Libya and Yemen, and further deterioration of countries in sub-Saharan Africa led to hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing to Europe since May 2015.
Announcement
The 17-Point Brussels Agreement on the Refugee Situation
On Sunday, 25 October, representatives of the European Union, its member states and Western Balkan countries came to an agreement concerning certain principles to be applied in further efforts to handle the refugee situation in Europe. The plan involves, inter alia, increasing reception capacity in Western Balkan countries in order to accommodate up to 50.000 refugees, discouraing the secondary movement of refugees from the country they find themselves in and facilitating the efficient return of persons who do not meet the criteria for the granting of international protection to their countries of origin.[1] (more…)
Joint statement of the Human Rights House Belgrade and Human Rights House Zagreb on the closing of the borders and the refugee crisis
Human Rights House Belgrade and Human Rights House Zagreb invite Serbian and Croatian governments to urgently eliminate all restrictive measures undermining the freedom of movement of the people and the goods, as well as to establish a normal communication in order to solve all problems throughopen dialogues. We invite all governments in Southeast and Eastern Europe to urgently establish cooperation measures and daily communication to jointly assist refugees. (more…)
Home
Home is a short film of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, which was created with the support of UNHCR, that tells us the life story of a refugee from Syria, about the reasons behind his decision to leave his homeland, what were his experiences along the way and why he decided to seek refuge in Serbia and about challenges that he faces today. (more…)
Analysis of print media in the election campaign
Centre for Monitoring Human Rights and Democracy House(hereinafter Center) continues with weekly analysis of daily press coverage of political parties. We analyzed the same eight newspapers (Danas, Politika, Blic, Alo, Kurir, Informer,VecernjeNovosti and NaseNovine) in the last week. The main trend of the campaign – a huge media support to the ruling Serbian Progressive Party continues. This party is favored in five of the eight observed papers (Novosti, Alo, Politika, Kurir,Informer–with 31 to 65 percent of coverage). (more…)
Statement regarding accommodation for asylum seekers
Belgrade Center for Human Rights expresses its great concern about the situation in which asylum-seekers are in the Republic of Serbia. The problem of lack of accommodation facilities for asylum seekers has been existent for more than a year and it is unacceptable that the Commissariat for Refugees still has not found a permanent solution for this problem. Not only in terms of opening new asylum center, but also in terms of awareness of the importance of providing assistance to asylum seekers. If the asylum seekers are not provided with adequate housing, the Republic of Serbia is in the position to treat them on inhuman and degrading way, which entails responsibility before the European Court of Human Rights for violation of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights. (more…)