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When asked what Serbia is like, I always answer – Serbia is simple, but it has everything one needs to lead a decent life. It’s all sort of organized, the rules are clear. When it’s time to work, they work with dedication. But there’s also time for pleasure. Although the paychecks aren’t as large as those in the Western European countries, the people are kind and beautiful on the inside. That may well be what I love the most about Serbia, says the twenty seven-year-old Luna, a young doctor from the Middle East, who has been living in Belgrade for the past eleven years.

Save the Children in the Northwestern Balkans, Refugee Aid Serbia (RAS) and Centre for Youth Integration (CYI), organisations dedicated to helping children and vulnerable groups have joined the Coalition for the Protection of Refugee and Migrant Children from abuse and neglect. The Coalition was founded in 2020 with the aim of ensuring safety of one of the most vulnerable groups of children.

The entire world is faced with mass migrations and, according to UNHCR’s estimation. The intensity of migrations is four times higher than a decade ago. With the rising number of refugees and migrants all over the world, xenophobic comments in public, hate speech and discriminatory reporting are growing ever more frequent. Serbia is no exception to such practices.

Country report was written by Nikola Kovačević independent expert and refugee lawyer from Serbia and with the help of the A11 – Initiative for Economic and Social Rights (A11), the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), Center for Research and Social Development IDEAS, Psychosocial Innovation Network (PIN) and Danish Refugee Council (DRC) and was edited by ECRE.

Značaj individualne i društvene solidarnosti i neophodnost tačnog informisanja i razvijanja svesti kod građana i građanki, dve su lekcije koje smo, nadam se, svi naučili tokom krize izazvane pandemijom kovida 19, i to su dva značajna postulata od kojih treba krenuti i kada govorimo o migrantima. Potrebno je pojačano raditi na informisanju i edukaciji, od lokalnih sredina u pograničnim područjima gde su smešteni migranti, do dece i mladih koji moraju od malih nogu da se uče toleranciji, ravnopravnosti, nenasilju, poštovanju drugih i drugačijih.

Posao staratelja deci izbeglicama i migrantima bez pratnje jeste da doprinose ostvarivanju njihovog najboljeg interesa.O emocijama koje ih pokreću, dubokoj empatiji koju osećaju, želji da pomognu deci u najtežim životnim trenucima, ali i ljubavi prema njima, o starateljstvu iz jednog drugačijeg ugla govore starateljke Ana Antanasijević i Mediha Lakota.

Kada me neko pita kakva je Srbija, uvek ponavljam – Srbija je jednostavna, ali ima sve za pristojan život. Sve je nekako organizovano, znaju se pravila. Kada se radi, radi se ozbiljno. Ali isto tako postoji vreme za uživanje. Možda plate nisu visoke kao u zemljama zapadne Evrope, ali ljudi su ljubazni i lepi iznutra. To je možda nešto što mi se najviše sviđa u Srbiji, priča dvadesetsedmogodišnja Luna, mlada lekarka poreklom sa Bliskog istoka, koja već jedanaest godina živi u Beogradu.

Save the Children za severozapadni Balkan, Refugee Aid Serbia (RAS) i Centar za integraciju mladih (CIM), organizacije posvećene unapređenju položaja dece i podršci najosetljivijim grupama, priključile su se Koaliciji za zaštitu dece izbeglica i migranata od zlostavljanja i zanemarivanja koja je osnovana 2020. godine u cilju osiguranja bezbednosti jedne od najugroženijih grupa dece.

Svet se globalno suočava sa masovnim migracijama, a prema proceni UNHCR-a, intenzitet migracija četiri puta je veći nego pre deset godina. Sa porastom broja izbeglica i migranata širom sveta, sve su učestaliji ksenofobični stavovi u javnom prostoru, govor mržnje, kao i diskriminatorno izveštavanje o migrantskim temama. Ovakva praksa nije zaobišla ni Srbiju.

Giving a human face to the figures, explaining the reasons for flight of refugees, writing about their capacities and knowledge, the contribution to the society they may make, could greatly help in dispelling the misconceptions, says UNHCR Representative in Serbia Francesca Bonelli.