The Protector of Citizens Mr. Zoran Pašalić talked today with the Ombudswoman Ms. Lora Vidović about the situation in Croatia after the devastating earthquake and offered her any help within his competence in repairing the consequences that this disaster brought to the citizens of that country.

“My colleague Ms. Vidović conveyed to me detailed information on the situation in Croatia after the earthquake and on the great effort that the local authorities are making to house 75,000 endangered people in the facilities. I offered her help within my competence so that, above all, people who were left homeless could be taken care of in this difficult situation. " said Mr. Pašalić after a telephone conversation with the Croatian colleague.

Mr. Pašalić and Ms. Vidović have agreed that the cooperation between the Ombudspersons of Serbia and Croatia has so far given positive results and expressed hope that this would be the case regarding the lives and livelihood of tens of thousands of Croatian citizens.

In monitoring the work of the Bogovađa Asylum Center, the Protector of Citizens determined that the number of security guards in the Center was not sufficient to maintain security during major riots such as the one of 17 December 2020, and that most of migrants, who participated in the riots emerged after an employee of Commissariat for Refugees and Migration was forced to kiss a religious rites mat, were transferred to Preševo Reception Center.

During the 28 December 2020 monitoring, the representatives of the Emergency Response Department of the Protector of Citizens determined that the premises and facilities used by the Asylum Center in Bogovađa are owned by the Serbian Red Cross, an organization that engaged the private company "Dekapolit" to guard the center’s facilities.

As stated by Ms. Marija Kerekeš Ristić, the acting manager of the Center, the security hired by the Red Cross of Serbia was not sufficient to grant the safety during the riots such as the one of 17 December 2020 with one member of the security present during the day and two of them during the night.

Ms. Milena Ribać, another acting manager who runs the center on a weekly basis, explained that the incident had occurred on 17 December 2020, when a worker, while collecting dirty blankets and distributing clean ones with a security guard, had accidentally stepped on a prayer mat.

Bogovađa Asylum Center representatives reported that feeling threatened, the workers left the building and headed for the building used by the Commissariat staff, but the migrants followed them, surrounded them and started throwing various items at them, and then started banging on the windows of the administration building. The employees immediately called the police, but at first only one patrol came with two police officers, several patrols arriving much later.

The Protector of Citizens determined that the migrants had requested the worker to leave the Center and apologize, which she had done, and then they had asked her to kiss their prayer mat, which she had also done, but the situation had not calmed down, they had already asked for an apology from the security workers, threatening to go inside with poles and kill them all if they did not receive an apology.

The security guard apologized to the migrants in English, but refused to kiss the mat. When a larger number of police officers arrived, who encircled the Center, the migrants started praying in front of the administrative building and then withdrew to the building where they were accommodated and started breaking things there.

At around 5 pm that day, two buses of the Commissariat arrived from Šid, and the employees then singled out the youngest migrants and those they knew did not take part in the riots. The rest, 79 of them, were transferred to the Center in Preševo, so 95 underage migrants are accommodated currently in the Asylum Center in Bogovađa.

Upon learning from the media that a group of migrants in that center forced an employee to kiss a rug used for performing their religious rite, on 24 December 2020, the Protector of Citizens initiated an investigation to control the Commissariat’s work in order to determine all the circumstances regarding this case and the level of security in that Center.

Upon learning from the media that the criminal act - prohibited sexual activity was committed against two children from Negotin, the Protector of Citizens instigated an investigation to control work legality and regularity of the towns’ Social Welfare Center.

The Protector of Citizens learned from the media that the perpetrator of this act had been arrested, but due to the possibility of endangering or violating child’s rights and best interests, it requested SWC Negotin to submit within 15 days a detailed report on the actions, measures and activities taken so far.

In addition, SWC Negotin is to notify the Protector of Citizens whether the families of these children have been on the Center’s records, as well as whether there have been previous reports, knowledge or suspicion of possible abuse, violence or neglect of children.

This December marked 10 years since the Protector of Citizens’ Youth Advisory Panel has been established, working on improving the position of children and young in the Republic of Serbia through involving the children and the young in a range of topics significant for promoting their rights and shedding light on the problems they face.

“We thank all the young advisors for their contribution by participating in this body’s work in realization and protection of child rights. We are particularly grateful that you have enriched the work of this Institution with energy, enthusiasm, ideas and sincere commitment, making us even better” the Protector of Citizens said.

The Protector of Citizens’ young advisors will continue their activities in 2021 through the project “Children to Children – Know Your Rights” which is a peer knowledge exchange about child rights and their protection, under the auspices of the Protector of Citizens of the Republic of Serbia. Within the project, funded by the Embassy of Bulgaria, trainings of young panelists on children's rights and a multi-day Summer School on the same topic are planned, and numerous promotional and informative materials on children's rights will be created.

Implementing in practice one of the fundamental principles which the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is set upon – the principle of child participation, the Protector of Citizens established Youth Advisory Panel of the Protector of Citizens and held first meeting with 30 boys and girls from the entire Serbia. So, Youth Advisory Panel became a form of permanent participation of children and the young in the work of the Protector of Citizens, a primary state body in Serbia which included children in its work.

The essential role of the Youth Advisory Panel is to convey to the Protector of Citizens topics important to children and youth, to indicate the problems they face, present their views and raise issues important for improving the positions of children and the young in Serbia. In addition, young advisors promote child's right to freedom of expression and participation in decision-making concerning children, acquaint other children with child rights and encourage peers to take an active role in improving the exercise and protection of their rights.

Boys and girls from all around Serbia, elementary and high school children, and the children from vulnerable groups are equally represented in the Youth Advisory Panel. Panel Members have successfully completed trainings organized by the Protector of Citizens including: general human rights, child rights in particular, protection against discrimination, mechanisms of stereotypes and prejudice formation, problems and the position of children on the move and the possibilities for improving child standard, as well as child participation, public advocacy and raising awareness on the need to impose legal ban on bodily punishment of children, the right to play and leisure, peer education for working with children, workshop skills etc.

On the other hand, Panel members have participated in the trainings and seminars organized by other state bodies, as well as civil society organizations. The Protector of Citizens’ Young Advisors have spoken in many conferences where they presented this Standing Body of the Protector of Citizens promoting child participation and talked about the Panel’s activities and their results.

The Young Advisors acquainted their peers from all around the country with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the role of the Protector of Citizens Institution in protecting child rights, they have conducted surveys on the protection of children and pupils from bullying, as well as on the children’s attitude to bodily punishment; and through the activity “Children to Children and Children for Children” they held workshops with the children and the young who live and work on the streets. They were giving lectures on child rights to elementary and high school students through our country. In addition, the panelists issued recommendations to the Assembly of the Republic of Serbia, the Government of Serbia, ministries, schools and other competent institutions to improve the position of children and protect their rights in a better way.