The sitting was attended by Nenad Ivanisevic, State Secretary at the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, Milanka Milosevic, representative of the Asylum Office at the Ministry of the Interior, Ljubomir Miladinovic, representative of Red Cross Serbia, Milos Jankovic, Deputy Ombudsman, John Andrew Young, representative of the UN High Commissioner for Refugee in Belgrade (UNHCR) and Michel Saint-Lot, Head of the UNICEF Office, as well as representatives of civil society.

Committee Chairperson Dr Vesna Rakonjac informed the attending that the sitting held outside of the Assembly seat in Subotica on 20 and 21 February dealt with the migrant crisis and its impact on Serbia. The Committee members visited the Subotica Migrant Reception Centre and noted that it provided adequate care for 200 people including three meals a day. As regards the security situation Rakonjac added that there had been no incidents involving the migrants and there are trained teams providing psychological help to the persons housed in the centre. She drew attention to unattended children migrants viz. their education and reunion with their families.

State Secretary Nenad Ivanisevic said that at present Serbia is home to 6-8 thousand migrants. He added that steps have been taken to dislocate the group of migrants settled around the Belgrade Railway Station and that a new reception centre has been opened in Obrenovac, housing 600 migrants. Ivanisevic announced the signing of an agreement with the European Union to secure 6 million EUR for the voluntary return of migrants to their countries of origin, adding that 70 migrants housed in the Presevo Reception Centre have declared intent to do so. Ivanisevic stressed that the Republic of Serbia fully abides by all internationally guaranteed rights of the migrants residing in Serbia and is the only country to abstain from using force against them.

Milanka Milosevic of the Asylum Office said that in the period 1 January-22 February 2017, out of 1359 migrants, 999 have declared intent to request asylum in Serbia, while only 69 have actually done so. She informed the attending that the Office has completed profiling the persons housed in the reception and asylum centres as regards their interest to permanently remain in Serbia. Milosevic added that the Office representatives visited the asylum centre in Sjenica when, with the support of UNHCR translators, 30 asylum requests had been submitted. Speaking of boosting the Office capacities, she said the procedure for the recruitment of 14 inspectors to conduct the asylum process in currently underway. She also added that the draft law on asylum and temporary protection is completed, has been adopted by the European Commission and is ready for assembly procedure.

Deputy Ombudsman Milos Jankovic said that the cooperation between the independent state body and all the relevant state institutions has been significantly improved. He commended Serbia for being one of few countries not to detain migrants, but at the same time pointed out the need to improve the security of the migrants inside the reception centres.

John Andrew Young of UNHCR said he was impressed by the way Serbia was treating the migrants. He focused on the integration of persons who would stay in Serbia, adding that UNHCR would continue to assist Serbia.

UNICEF Director Michel Saint-Lot emphasised the importance of providing education for child migrants, 200 of which are of school age. Thanks to the efforts of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development which had adopted a model of inclusion of these children into Serbia’s school system, 50 child migrants have started to attend schools in Belgrade. Speaking of social welfare, Saint-Lot said that the Ministry of Health has provided five nurse visits to mothers and new-borns, as well as vaccination in line with Serbia’s immunisation calendar.

On the behalf of Red Cross Serbia, Ljubomir Miladinovic said that the organization has set up a family links service with enables the migrants to find and communicate with family and friends. Miladinovic stated that its operation had resulted in 49 successful cases in Serbia and 24 cases abroad.

The representatives of civil society emphasized the successful cooperation with state institutions and relevant international organisations as regards the migrant crisis in Serbia. Sonja Toskovic of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights said that the legal status of all persons residing on the territory of the Republic of Serbia needs to be defined in more detail adding that the Centre would continue to offer these persons free legal assistance in 2017, while Donka Banovic of the association “Help for Children” added that the future efforts should be directed toward training teachers to adequately complete the integration of child migrants into society.

Finally, the attending agreed that regular meetings and monthly reports are excellent practice which should continue to follow the same dynamics in the coming period.

The sitting was chaired by Committee Chairperson Dr Vesna Rakonjac, and attended by the following Committee members and deputy members: Dragan Savkic, Prim. Dr Branimir Rancic, Gorica Gajic, Dr Svetlana Nikolic Pavlovic, Jelena Vujic Obradovic, Bojan Torbica, Milena Bicanin, Prim. Dr Vlado Babic, Milena Corilic and Marija Janjusevic, as well as MP Srbislav Filipovic.