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UNHCR Serbia Fact Sheet, July 2020

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Serbia hosts almost 26,000 refugees and 197,000 IDPs, and some 1,900 persons at risk of statelessness.

Persons in need of international protection amongst newly arriving third country nationals (over 9,200 in Jan-June 2020) are supported in requesting and being granted asylum and local integration. Most displaced from the region have found solutions, while cases and threat of statelessness have been reduced.

UNHCR continues to support the Government in strengthening the national asylum system to secure institutional protection and sustainable solutions.

Working with Partners

  • UNHCR Serbia enjoys close cooperation with the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration (SCRM), the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, of Labour, Employment, Veteran, and Social Affairs, of Internal Affairs, of Public Administration and Local Self-Government as well as with local authorities.

  • Project Partnership Agreements have been concluded with A11 Initiative for Economic and Social Rights, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, the Crisis Response and Policy Centre, the Danish Refugee Council, the Humanitarian Centre for Integration and Tolerance, IDEAS, Indigo – Group for Children and Youth, Praxis, the Psychosocial Innovation Network, Sigma Plus and the United Nations Development Programme.

  • UNHCR Serbia, together with the International Organization for Migration, co-chairs the Refugee and Migration Theme Group of the United Nations Country Team, advises and supports governmental and nongovernmental development partners in the implementation of the United Nations Sustainable Development Cooperation Framework (UNSDCF), COVID-19 Prevention, Response and Recovery Plans, the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the Global Compact for Refugees.

Main Activities

  • UNHCR supports the Government of Serbia in strengthening the national asylum system and protectionsensitive migration management in line with applicable global and regional treaties and standards.

  • UNHCR and partners assist due access to asylum procedures and public services, intervene in child protection as well as SGBV prevention and response in some 30 sites across the country.

  • UNHCR and partners assist a sustainable integration of refugees through free legal aid, financial, education and employment support.

  • UNHCR and partners advocate and provide legal aid for solutions for persons displaced within the region and - together with the OSCE - monitor beneficiary selection of the Regional Refugee Housing Programme (RHP).

  • UNHCR supports authorities and civil society in creating systemic solutions for persons lacking birth registration and personal documentation and other actions to end statelessness in Serbia.

  • Operationalizing the Global Compact for Refugees, UNHCR Serbia works closely with the Government, UN and development partners, international financial institutions and other stakeholders to secure the inclusion and improvement of the situation of persons of concern in the nationalisation of Sustainable Development Goals, COVID-19 prevention, response and recovery plans, the UNSDCF for Serbia and other developmental processes.

  • UNHCR Serbia enjoys regular cross-border cooperation with UNHCR teams in neighbouring countries, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Romania.