The Report before you covers the January–October 2023 period and is compiled on the basis of the BCHR’s findings and experience in extending free legal aid to asylum seekers and representing them in the asylum procedure, as well as in supporting the integration of people granted asylum in the Republic of Serbia. The report is based on an overview and analysis of the implementation of relevant asylum-related domestic and international law and other administrative procedures important for integration in Serbia’s society.
The reporting period was characterised by humanitarian crises and armed conflicts across the world forcing large numbers of people to flee their homes, including new clashes and humanitarian disasters in incendiary regions, notably in the Middle East (the Gaza Strip, Syria) and African countries. In response to the ongoing international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the Serbian Government followed the suit of European Union (EU) Member States and adopted a Decision Amending the Decision on the Provision of Temporary Protection in the Republic of Serbia to Persons Displaced from Ukraine of 17 March 2022 (2023 Decision), which extended temporary protection by one year, until 18 March 2024.
According to the data of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX), the Balkan route was the second most active route, despite Serbia’s tighter visa policies towards third countries.
The fact that migrants and refugees still mostly rely on the support of international and non-government organisations due to the lack of sustainable systemic solutions and effective multi-sectoral cooperation shows that the entire asylum system in Serbia is unfortunately still far from functional. The shortcomings impeding access to and implementation of the asylum procedure, identification and protection of the most vulnerable individuals and (im)possibility of longterm refugee integration in the Republic of Serbia, which the BCHR has been alerting to for years, persisted in 2023. Rather than considering Serbia as a country of asylum, most refugees still perceived it merely as a transit country where they would stay for a shorter or longer period of time until they continued their journey towards the EU in search of a better life and a future with prospects.
The report is available here: Right to Asylum 2023
