Centar za zaštitu i pomoć tražiocima azila / Asylum Protection Center

In 2009, according to the Asylum Protection Center’s register, 256 persons sought asylum in the Republic of Serbia. 238 of them are males and only 18 females. The country of origin of more than 70% of these asylum seekers is Afghanistan, 6.5% of them came from Sri Lanka, 6% from Iran, 1.2% from Iraqi, etc.
One third, an alarming number, of the total number of asylum seekers in the RS are children, and only 20% of them are accompanied by parents while the rest are unaccompanied minors, which requires not only different treatments but different measures to be taken by the competent authorities. The minors fall actually into a particularly vulnerable group and should be treated as such. Namely, the state authorities, due to the fact that they are dealing with a unaccompanied child, should act promptly and efficiently, i.e. immediately provide lodging and appoint guardian, and carry out the very asylum procedure more quickly and efficiently, as well as assist in faster integration into Serbian society or safe return of the child to his/her country of origin if the child is denied the refugee status.

Recently, an upward trend in the number of unaccompanied, asylum-seeking minors has been observed; it is estimated that each year more than 2000 unaccompanied children seek asylum in the UK. Considering the situation in the RS, it can be concluded that the number of unaccompanied children and adolescents who seek asylum in the RS is not negligible; it is actually disturbing and shocking, especially having in mind the travel and time required for asylum-seeking minors to reach our country.