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AN OVERVIEW OF GENERAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC SITUATION IN SERBIA
criminal reports were filed. This above all refers to voluntary registration in the voters
register. Namely, the Instructions on the Separate National Minority Voter Register
Entry Procedure 156 which regulated this issue enabled the application for registration
to be submitted by a third party, not necessarily the voter not requiring any additional
documentation from that party, not even a photocopy of the ID of the person to be
entered in the voter register. Since the Ministry failed to put rights this shortcoming in
spite of being informed about the situation, many citizens were registered in the voter
register based on forged signatures, i.e. against their will.
§ 101. National councils were constituted based on the Rules of Procedure adopted by
the Ministry for Human and Minority Rights. For constituting the council, the session had
to be attended by the absolute majority of the elected members, except for the Bosniak
National Council, where the two-thirds of the elected members were required, whereas
this requirement was laid down on the eve of the constituent session. Since the session
was boycotted by more than a third of the elected members, the Council remained
unconstituted. In response to the Ombudsman’s reaction, the Ministry for Human and
Minority Rights said that the Rules of Procedure had to be amended because of the need
to protect the electoral will of the voters and not with the intention to discriminate
against Bosniak minority on national grounds. Still, it seemed that this was about the
fact that the Government of Serbia was not satisfied with the elected majority over which
it had no control.
§ 102. Since Roma are the largest and yet the most marginalized ethnic minority that
lives in Serbia, in this article, we will focus on the position of Roma community in Serbia.
§ 103. Although according to the last census, there are 108,000 Roma living in Serbia,
their actual number is estimated at around 450,000 - 500,000 157 . The Government of
Serbia has signed the Declaration of the Decade of Roma Inclusion and at the beginning
of 2005 adopted an Action Plan for the Advancement of Roma Education. Still, the
position of Roma in our country is very hard. Roma people are exposed to permanent
discrimination and ethnically motivated attacks, they often live in horrible conditions,
faced with the problem of not having identity documents and other obstacles for the
realization of their civil and human rights.
§ 104. Roma community in Serbia, particularly Roma who live in Roma settlements,
often live in enormous poverty, which result in social exclusion. 67% of Roma children
from Roma settlements are poor, while 62% of Roma families with children are below
the poverty line 158 . Life in poverty and social exclusion fully shape further life of Roma
children, including poor inclusion into the education system, inadequate access to health
156
Instruction on the Separate National Minority Voter Register Entry Procedure, Ministry for Human and Minority Rights of the Republic of Serbia
no. 290–111–00–00009/2009–05.
157
Breaking the Cycle of Exclusion. Roma Children in South East Europe, UNICEF, Belgrade, 2007.
158
The State of Children in Serbia 2006. Poor and Excluded Children, UNICEF, Belgrade, 2007.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA - Report for the period 2000-2010 41