Active Care Provided for Unaccompanied Minors Migrants

The Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran’s and Social Affairs is an active participant in the migration management process in the Republic of Serbia.  The employees of this institution, within the scope of the social protection system, provide accommodation for the aforementioned category of migrants in keeping with the best interests of the child and in full compliance with the rights of children.

Under the EU Support to Migration Management in Serbia, some 70 professionals have been hired in order to provide assistance to this vulnerable category of migrants; regional coordinators, field workers and children’s guardians appointed by the centres for social welfare in 13 cities and municipalities within Serbia, teachers within three institutions for social protection and the accommodation of unaccompanied minors migrants, English and Arabic translators and other support staff.

Aside from the existing asylum centres administered by the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration and allocated for the accommodation of unaccompanied migrant minors, the Ministry has also provided accommodation capacities in three separate social protection institutions, these being: Institute for the Education of Children and Minors “Belgrade“, Institute for Youth Education “Nis” and the Dormitory “Jovan Jovanovic Zmaj” (Zvecanska), all of which have a accommodation capacities for up to 40 unaccompanied minors.

In coordination with the NGO sector two additional facilities with accommodation capacities for approximately 30 people have also been made available for the accommodation of unaccompanied minors.

At present there are approximately 250 unaccompanied minors in the Republic of Serbia though this number changes from day to day. The majority of the unaccompanied minors are accommodated in the Asylum Centres of Bogovadja and Sjenica. During 2018 and 2019 in total 338 unaccompanied minors were accommodated within the national institutions for social protection while in the first eight months of 2020 in total 63 unaccompanied minors were provided with accommodation therein. During the state of emergency in total there were close to 700 unaccompanied minors accommodated within the state institutions for the accommodation of migrants.

The Centre for Social Welfare which serves as the body providing guardianship is itself a social protection institution responsible for the welfare of the beneficiaries of social protection.  The Centre makes decisions concerning the use of social protection, decides on the accommodation of minors, appoints guardians for minors and makes decisions in the best interest of the minors in all of the processes in which it participates.  As an example, the Centre for Social Welfare in this year alone has issued some 1,000 decisions in relation to the appointment of a temporary guardianship for unaccompanied minors.

The temporary guardians, as well as the other skilled workers working in the social protection system, take care of the needs of unaccompanied minors. They pay particular attention to care and protection from all forms of violence and offer psycho-social support and facilitate ease of access to health protection and education. They provide representation for unaccompanied minors in processes conducted before other state bodies and in accordance with the Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection and the Law on Foreigners.

The procedure for the care of unaccompanied minors it defined by the Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection, the Law on Foreigners and the Law on Families.  All procedural actions taken in connection with their stay and possible requests for asylum are reviewed by the Ministry the Interior, with the compulsory attendance of the temporary guardian appointed by the Centre for Social Welfare.

Accommodation is provided by the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration while for minors (girls in particular) and other particularly vulnerable categories, accommodation is provided within the Institutes for Social Protection.  During 2019 two unaccompanied minors were granted protection in accordance with the Law on Asylum and Temporary Protection.