In the implementation of their international obligations, European and EU states have devised sophisticated asylum systems based on complex procedural tools. In some cases, tools are designed and used for the purpose of avoiding responsibility for refugees, because they allow claims to be dismissed as inadmissible before looking at the substance of the claim. The recent EU-Turkey deal and the European Commission’s proposal for harmonised asylum procedures under an Asylum Procedures Regulation, for instance, revolve around concepts such as “safe third country” and “first country of asylum”. (more…)

The Country Guide is a compilation of publicly available information from international institutions, local NGOs, governmental agencies, businesses, media and universities, among others. International and domestic sources are identified on the basis of their expertise and relevance to the Serbiancontext, as well as their timeliness and impartiality. (more…)

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCHR)continued implementing the project focusing on the extension of free legal aidto asylum seekers with UNHCR’s support in 2016. This Report covers the April-June 2016 period and includes only data relevant to that period, while the comprehensive information about the asylum system in Serbia is available in BCHR’s 2015 Right to Asylum in the Republic of Serbia report.  

The Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCHR) is concerned by the results of the evaluation of the programmes submitted by candidates for the post of War Crimes Prosecutor, which was conducted by the Commission for the Preparation and Evaluation of the Written Test and the Evaluation of the Programmes on the Organisation and Improvement of the Work of the Public Prosecution Service (hereinafter: Commission). (more…)

European Association for Local Democracy (ALDA), with the support of Central European Initiative (CEI), organized an international seminar on 20-21 June 2016 in Skopje on the topic “Co-operation and good governance, with migration in western and central European countries”, in which the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights took part. (more…)

The United Nations Resolution 55/76 from December 4, 2000 marks June 20th as the World Refugee Day. The World Refugee Day has been marked since 2001 so that the global population could be informed on the difficult conditions in which refugees find themselves in. The year 2015 was marked by the Escalation of an unprecedented refugee crisis that hit Europe. According to UNHCR statistics, one out of 113 people globally are impacted by the crisis, and the number of displaced persons is at a record high. At the end of 2015, there were 63.3 million refugees worldwide, which represents a dramatic increase when compared to 59.5 million registered only 12 months prior. (more…)