The Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, in cooperation with the Protector of Citizens and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Serbia, has held an information campaign today for the representatives of the Roma community in Niš, with the aim of providing information on how to exercise the right to be entered into the Register of Births and obtaining personal documents.
The Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Aleksandar Martinović, PhD, has pointed out that the Republic of Serbia has achieved extraordinary results in resolving the issue of legal invisibility, which is supported by the fact that, according to a UNHCR survey from 2020, approximately 253 people who are not entered into the Register of Births live in informal settlements in our country. As he explained, by amending the regulations, facilitating procedures and conducting training for relevant civil servants, work was conducted on solving this issue systematically, which made Serbia an example of good practice in the region.
Martinović added that further joint activities are aimed at preventing the emergence of new cases of persons who are not entered into the Register of Births, through identifying the remaining cases and providing support and assistance to resolve their status issues. He has expressed his belief that Serbia will be one of the countries that will completely eradicate statelessness by the end of the UNHCR “I Belong” campaign in November 2024.
The Mayor of Niš, Dragana Sotirovski, has said that Niš supports the information campaign for the final resolution of the issue of persons who are not entered in civil records, because obtaining personal documents is a prerequisite for solving their numerous problems, and expressed her belief that together with fellow citizens of the Roma nationality, they will make a new step forward, not only on promotion of the campaign, but also in the field and in direct communication with them. She added that the City of Niš motivates young Roma nationals to study through student scholarships, that several highly educated people got jobs, as well as that they work on the legalization of houses in Roma settlements and projects in which members of the Roma community actively participate.
The representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Serbia has stated the following: “Together with the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Ministry of Interior, the Protector of Citizens and other state bodies, as well as with local partner organizations, UNHCR has been working for many years on solving the issue of persons without personal documents. Thanks to this cooperation, tens of thousands of people have received personal documents, and the relevant laws were amended in roder to eradicate this phenomenon. According to UNHCR’s assessment, around 2,000 persons in Serbia still lacks some of the necessary documents, while around 250 persons are not entered into the Register of Births. Since the majority of such persons are Roma nationals, UNHCR is launching a campaign in Roma settlements on 1 June in order to identify those who still lack documents, and invite them to report to registrars, social services and the police. UNHCR will also provide free legal assistance to all those who wish to obtain documents through its partner – the organization Praxis.”
Since 2012, the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, the Protector of Citizens and the UNHCR have been making joint efforts with the aim of resolving this issue, within the framework of three Memoranda of Understanding. At today’s event, the Protector of Citizens, Zoran Pašalić, had also addressed the attendees, after which an information session was held for representatives of the Roma community.
Photo gallery – source: City of Niš
