The Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, Aleksandar Martinović, PhD, has met today with the Representative of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Serbia, Soufiane Adjali, with whom he discussed the results of long-term successful cooperation in resolving the so-called “legally invisible persons” and enabling the exercising of the right to be entered into the Register of Births.
Martinović has pointed out that, thanks to the cooperation within the framework of the three Memorandums of Understanding between the MDULS, the Protector of Citizens and the UNHCR Representation in Serbia, all the mechanisms for smooth entry into the Register of Births are provided. As he stated, not only was the legal framework improved while complicated administrative procedures were eliminated, but, among other things, information campaigns were organized for members of the Roma community, and a series of trainings were held in which more than 500 civil servants from 145 cities and municipalities have participated, with the aim of more efficient handling in cases of the birth of a child whose mother does not possess personal documents.
Pointing out that the Republic of Serbia has joined the activities of UNHCR’s ten-year global campaign “I Belong”, Martinović has emphasized that MDULS is committed to solving the remaining cases of persons who are not entered into the Register of Births. He added that, in the previous period, the Ministry had successfully digitized the civil records, and recalled that at the end of last year, the service eExtract from the civil records was introduced on the eAdministration Portal.
At the meeting, the importance of the problem of return of internally displaced and exiled citizens of the Republic of Serbia from the territory of Kosovo and Metohija, as well as the threat to their security and failure to respect their basic human rights, was particularly emphasized.
The representative of UNHCR to Serbia, Soufiane Adjali, has expressed his satisfaction with the cooperation with the Ministry of Public Administration and Local Self-Government thus far, and concluded that the Republic of Serbia could be among the first countries to completely eradicate statelessness by November 2024, which is the goal of the “I Belong” campaign.
Martinović is the first minister in the Government of the Republic of Serbia with whom Adjali met, and today’s meeting was also attended by the Commissioner for Refugees and Migration, Nataša Stanisavljević.
Foto galerija – izvor Tanjug
