In adopting Resolution 55/76 of 4 December 2000, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 20 June World Refugee Day, which has been observed as such since 2001 in order to raise awareness among the general public of the plight of refugees. According to the latest data of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (from mid-2014), there are around 13 million refugees in the world. Considering the developments in several crisis areas around the globe, it is reasonable to expect that this number will continue to grow in 2015, which is to say that the position of refugees will continue to deteriorate.
The increasing number of people who, fleeing persecution, come to ‘Fortress Europe’ are not, unfortunately, always welcomed by the local population. Extreme right-wing groups and movements advocating the full border closure are on the rise in more than one European country and such sentiments may more and more often be heard coming from leading politicians and celebrities.
The number of asylum-seekers in Serbia in 2015 has already exceeded the number recorded in 2014. While a total of 16.490 people expressed the intention to seek asylum in Serbia in the whole of 2014, 22.182 people have already done so in the first five months of 2015 alone. For the first time since the beginning of the crises in Syria and Iraq – these being the greatest refugee crises in modern times – refugees may be seen in the streets of Serbian cities, without shelter, food or medical help.
The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights would like to use this opportunity to remind of the tragic circumstances that have befallen refugees in Serbia and to honour all of those who did not survive the journey to Europe. We urge the authorities of the Republic of Serbia to respect their legal, but also moral and humane obligation to provide this extremely vulnerable group of people with all of the necessary help in order to save human lives and defend human dignity.
