Support to refugees and asylum seekers in Serbia – February 2018.

In 2018, the Belgrade Center for Human Rights will continue to provide free and professional legal
assistance to refugees and asylum seekers in Serbia, with the support of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees.
In addition to providing direct legal assistance, the attention of the Belgrade Center will be directed
towards raising the awareness of citizens and competent authorities on the topic, promotion of new,
adequate solutions for the problems identified, as well as the provision of precise statistics on the
number of asylum seekers, and the collection of information on countries of origin.
During February, the team of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights conducted a total of 13 visits to
centers for asylum and reception centers, of which three visits were to Center for Asylum in Krnjaca, two
to the reception centers in Presevo and Bujanovac and two the Shelter for Foreigners in Padinska skeli.
In addition, the team of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights organized one visit to the centers for
asylum in Bogovađa, Tutin, Sjenica and Banja Koviljaca.
One of our key activities is providing free and professional legal assistance to refugees and asylum
seekers in Serbia. The Center's lawyers advised 130 people in the past month, most of them coming
from Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Syria.
The Belgrade Center for Human Rights has continued to advocate the improvement of the legal
framework and changes in the policy of the Serbian authorities in terms of access to the procedure and
functioning of the asylum system.
During February, the Belgrade Center for Human Rights continued with regular support activities in
exercising rights related to integration into society. In order to enable access to the labor market, the
clients of the Belgrade Center with the support of the UNHCR were provided with assistance in obtaining
a work permit (6 work permits), applying for a job, collecting the documentation needed for getting a
job, etc. Through the cooperation between UNHCR, the Belgrade Center for Human Rights and GIZ
Office Serbia, a cooking course will be organized for the clients of the Belgrade Center to gain
professional knowledge through theoretical training and practice in the restaurant of Arabian cuisine.
Given that regional cooperation with civil society organizations dealing with asylum and migration
systems is in a special focus of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights this year, our representatives took
part in various conferences, round tables and meetings where they had the opportunity to present their
work, but also to exchange knowledge, experiences and practical examples with other organizations and
institutions dealing with this topic.