Results of the survey on statelessness in Serbia, conducted to obtain reliable and representative data on various dimensions of the statelessness of Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians (RAE) in Serbia, were presented at a press conference at the Media Center. The Survey, carried out by SeConS in September and October 2015, shows that the number of “legally invisible” Roma, Ashkali and Egyptians has dropped by a half over the past four years.
Professor Slobodan Cvejić, PhD, Research Director at SeConS, explained that this survey was carried out on a sample of 1987 households with a total of 8765 members who belong to the RAE national minority. The risk of statelessness is noticeably higher among members of the RAE community displaced from Kosovo, those who live in Belgrade or reside in rented properties. Two or more members are at risk from being stateless in 31% of households. People at risk from being stateless are extremely poor, and 90% of the members of such households would like someone to contact them to provide assistance in obtaining personal documents. While presenting these findings, Professor Cvejić also listed recommendations for adopting and implementing system solutions and for full participation of the Roma community.
Hans Friedrich Schroeder, Head of the UNHCR Office in Serbia, said at the press conference that collaboration is extremely important for implementation of all key recommendations of this survey, in order for “every newborn child in Serbia, including those whose parents’ citizenship is unknown, to be able to have a birth certificate”.
Kori Udovički, Deputy Prime Minister of Serbia and Minister of Public Administration and Local Self-Government, said that the Memorandum of Agreement signed about four years ago by the Ministry, the UNHCR Office in Serbia and the Ombudsman, presented the framework for finding and implementing the most efficient solutions for solving this problem. “It is our goal to ensure newborn children are documented in birth records even if their parents are ‘legally invisible’, i.e. have no personal identification documents or birth certificates, and stop making more stateless persons this way”, said Udovički.
Robert Sepi, Deputy Ombudsman of Serbia, said that “the number of ‘legally invisible’ persons has been significantly reduced thanks to the Memorandum of Agreement“. The most important step which has been taken towards this goal is the adoption of the initiative of the Ombudsman for amending the Law on Extra-Judicial Proceedings which would enable persons without a recognized civil status to be documented in birth certificate record books.
“Nevidljivih” manje u Srbiji, ali problemi ostaju
„Lica u opasnosti od apatridije u Srbiji – izveštaj o napretku 2010 – 2015.“
