Serbian citizens, authorities do "admirable work" in crisis

Serbian citizens, authorities do "admirable work" in crisis

"Serbian citizens and authorities have done admirable work in many respects, including in their humanitarian approach, the implementation of biometric registration and better equipped facilities. The country must continue on this positive path and ensure that good practices on paper are fully translated into reality,” Santos said, while touring reception and registration centers in Miratovac and Presevo.

“But Serbia, like many other countries, needs to be part of a co-ordinated Europe-wide response. That response must be based on real burden-sharing, the removal of fences and walls, legal channels for migration and an efficient, common registration procedure in the countries dealing with this flow of human beings,” she said.

According to Santos, the OSCE can also do more to help manage the crisis, including through facilitating the exchange of best practices, organizing additional trainings for officials dealing with migrants and refugees, providing expanded legislative assistance, and monitoring and reporting.

Committee Rapporteur and Deputy Speaker of the Serbian Assembly Gordana Comic hosted the delegation, which also included Committee Vice-Chair Ivana Dobesova and the Parliamentary Assembly’s Special Representative on OSCE Border Issues Ignacio Sanchez Amor.

The delegation, that visited Serbia on Thursday, was joined by Head of Serbia’s Delegation to the OSCE PA Dijana Vukomanovic, delegation member Meho Omerovic, who serves as chairperson of the Serbian Assembly Committee on Human and Minority Rights and Gender Equality, and OSCE PA Secretary General Roberto Montella, said the statement.

“After the wars in the 1990s, the concept of a ‘refugee crisis’ and the understanding that anyone can become a refugee is not new to Serbia. That experience tells me that the current situation affecting Europe is certainly manageable, particularly once we put better domestic and international mechanisms in place," Comim remarked after the visit, adding:

“But what is most disturbing to me at the moment is not simply the lack of solidarity among countries, but the deeper sense that these people are just not wanted in Europe. And so, as we shape policies, we must do soul-searching along the way - and break down not just the new walls along borders, but the walls between human beings.”

On Wednesday, the delegation held consultations in Belgrade with members of the Serbian National Assembly, OSCE Mission to Serbia head Peter Burkhard, officials from Serbia’s Commissariat for Refugees and Migration, UNHCR Serbia Representative Hans Schodder; and experts from the Belgrade Center for Human Rights.