Wednesday, 01.10.2014.
Asylum and Migration System: two stories
On September 26, 2014 in Belgrade, a conference was held titled “Asylum and Migration System: two stories”. This event was focused on two specific migration issues, important for further development of (not only) migration policies in the Republic of Serbia. It was attended by more than 100 representatives of civil society organisations from the region, representatives of the state Institutions of RS, international organisations and representatives of the embassies of European countries in the RS.
The conference was opened by Aleksandar Nikolić, State Secretary, Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS, Nils Ragnar Kamsvåg HE Ambassador, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade, Miloš R. Janković, Deputy Ombudsman RS, Ivan Gerginov, Assistant Commissioner for Refugees and Migration RS, Jadranka Jelinčić, Executive Director of the Foundation for an Open Society and Vladimir Petronijević, Executive Director of Group 484.
The central part of the conference took place in two parallel thematic panels. The first panel was devoted to the asylum system in Serbia, its broader institutional context, legal framework and relevant migration policies. Within this panel, the latest report of Group 484 was presented and discussed, which talks about the current situation in Serbia, while in the second part of the panel representatives of relevant organisations from the region spoke about the comparative experiences of their countries.
The second panel dealt with the phenomenon of asylum seekers from Serbia and their social roots, within which international experts spoke about seasonal labour migrants in the European Union and their view of asylum seekers from Serbia. The second part of this panel was focused on the issues of social inclusion of the Roma community in Serbia.
The event was organised as part of the project Networking and Capacity Building for More Effective Migration Policy, dealing with the networking of relevant civil society organisations, strengthening capacities for civilian monitoring of policies and practices in the areas of asylum and readmission and development of a broader dialogue on migration policy of the Republic of Serbia.
Group 484 is implementing the project with the support of the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Belgrade and the Foundation for an Open Society Serbia, in partnership with the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights and the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy.
