Unaccompanied minor migrants provided with all necessary services

During 2020, more than 2,700 minor migrants unaccompanied by parents/guardians were accommodated in the facilities of the Ministry of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs and the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration. This represents an increase of more than 60 percent compared to 2019. Out of the total number, 122 minors stayed in specialized social protection institutions and shelters for accommodation of minor foreigners.

Centers for social work represent a guardianship body, which according to the Family Law is responsible for guardianship protection. The very procedure for establishing guardianship includes a social worker in the field, a case manager, a competent person of a center for social work, a legal representative, and other necessary professional staff. The decision granting a guardian to a minor is joint, and the deadline for a center for social work to make such a decision is 30 days, and another 30 in special cases. During 2020, the centers for social work brought about 1,500 decisions on guardianship.

Social workers had more than 16,000 different interventions in working with the migrant population last year, of which more than 85 percent were aimed at protecting unaccompanied minor migrants. This issue includes medical interventions, interviews, representation during the asylum procedure, individual and family counseling, psychological support, measures related to protection against the COVID-19 virus, support for schooling and other educational activities…

In Serbia, there are five specialized institutions/shelters for unaccompanied minors who, in accordance with the Law on Social Protection and the Family Law, provide protection and actively work with minors. Two state institutions in Belgrade and one in Nis, as well as two shelters run by partners from the non-governmental sector, one in Belgrade and one in Loznica, pay special attention to work with children who are in a vulnerable position and require specialized services. The total accommodation capacities in these shelters amount to 70 places, but it is expected that during 2021, their capacity will increase by 30 percent.

In addition to these institutions/shelters, the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration has designated asylum centers in Sjenica and Bogovađa to be available for unaccompanied minors, where staff of social work centers are permanently present.