Photo: APC
Source: APC

 

In August this year, after nine months of proceedings, the first family from Palestine was granted subsidiary protection in Serbia. Behind this decision lies the story of a family forced to leave their home due to the war in Gaza and seek a place where they could once again feel safe, as well as the significant efforts of lawyers and psychosocial service providers from our Center to assist them and establish legal practice for granting asylum to people who fled from Gaza/Palestine and reached Serbia.

This particular Palestinian family of four arrived in Serbia at the end of October 2025. The parents and their two adult daughters had to leave their home amidst the chaos of armed conflict in Gaza. In the period that followed, they stayed in several places and refugee camps within the Gaza Strip, a territory no larger than the city of Belgrade, yet home to more than 2 million people, trying to find safety while the fighting and destruction continued. In their homeland, they lost both their home and the life they once knew, and survival became their only and most essential concern.

The process of organizing their departure and arrival in Serbia was made possible by the daughter of their father, a Serbian woman living in Serbia, whose persistence and dedication managed to mobilize institutions. With the support of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Tel Aviv and the International Red Cross, she achieved what was considered nearly impossible. After leaving the Gaza Strip under a hail of bullets, the family entered Jordan and was then transported to Belgrade through coordinated efforts of Serbian and Jordanian authorities.

Upon arrival in Serbia, they immediately turned to APC for help and support. Unfortunately, their arrival did not mark the end of their hardships. The father of the family was gravely ill and passed away just one month after their arrival, in November 2025. At that time, their stay in Serbia was still uncertain, and they were at risk of losing the possibility to remain, potentially becoming stateless persons without a country to accept them.

From the very beginning, APC stood by this family. In addition to free legal aid and representation in the asylum process, they received psychosocial and integration support to help them overcome challenges and uncertainty in their new environment. Unfamiliar with customs, rules, language, and regulations, without friends, acquaintances, or means of basic survival, the family was at risk of falling into deep illegality, living on the margins of society, or becoming victims of human traffickers, smugglers, or other criminals seeking to exploit their vulnerable position.

After nine months of lengthy proceedings, with many obstacles and APC’s legal struggle, the competent institutions in Serbia decided to grant asylum in the form of subsidiary protection to these refugees from Palestine. It was determined that there were valid reasons indicating that, if returned to Palestine, they would face a real risk of serious injustice and grave threats to their lives. This decision also establishes legal precedent for future refugees who manage to reach Serbia from the Gaza Strip.

Today, after being granted asylum, their story is slowly entering a new chapter. At the APC Hub, they are learning Serbian, getting to know life in Serbia, and, with the help of our cultural mediators, building new contacts. They want to work, become independent, and continue their lives in Serbia. To achieve this, they will undergo training programs in employment, adaptation to the labor market, and integration programs at the APC Migration Hub. Their journey from Gaza to Serbia was long and difficult, and they had to leave much behind. For them, obtaining subsidiary protection is not only a legal decision.