Migrant children from the Centre for accommodation of foreign juveniles without parental care at sports class

Migrant children from the Centre for accommodation of foreign juveniles without parental or custodian care in Čukarica, today have participated in sports and recreation class together with children from Primary School “Miroslav Antić”, learning how to acquire healthy habits.

Jelena Marić Luković, said on behalf of the EU Support to Municipalities Hosting Migrants, that the Centre for accommodation of foreign juveniles without parental or custodian care was donated sports equipment within the Support programme.

“We wanted that children staying in this Centre have better psycho-physical and motoric development, but we also want to foster social inclusion”, said Ms. Marić Luković.

Jelena Marić Luković said that the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs provides the migrants and children from local population staying in social protection facilities in Serbia with good living conditions.

“They take care that these children are sheltered, empowered, and most importantly, loved”, said Marić Luković.

She added that migrants face different barriers when staying in new environments, since they are, as she said, children from another system, with different skin colour, speaking different language.

Milenko Nikić, advisor from the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, stated that from the beginning of migrant crisis, Serbia has had the most human attitude to the population.

“We want to ensure security to those children, to satisfy their basic needs such as food, accommodation, health protection”, said Nikić.

According to his words, the problems faced by migrant children are complex and this is why one institution cannot resolve them alone.

“The Centre for accommodation of foreign juveniles without parental or custodian care is an example how children without families should be treated and that they need much more than mere security”, added Nikić.

He also stated that the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs has been among important institutions addressing the problems of migrants from the very beginning of migrant crisis.

Srđan Kolarić, President of the Municipality of Čukarica, said that the most important thing was that migrant children felt as good as possible and that they had good conditions in places of their temporary stay.

“Nowadays, when migrations are huge and when great number of migrants pass through our country, it is important that those people are provided with adequate living conditions”, concluded Kolarić.