WHAT WE DO

Information sharing – informing migrants-potential asylum seekers, refugees on /rights/obligations/available procedures, their legal position and potential consequences of their eventual irregular position, on asylum/migrant procedures, system and its functioning, as well as on rights and obligations guaranteed, on procedural steps in asylum, on the possible legal remedies, on possibilities to report abuse, violations, decisions and possible duration of the asylum/other procedures, in the language they understand, adjusted to their age, gender, during the field visits of APC mobile teams or in APC premises in South, North and Central Serbia. During the provision of information beneficiaries are informed about the legal aid assistance available under the action and provided with full contact details of APC lawyers. Moreover, APC smartphone Asylum in Serbia Application has been shared by APC volunteers, interns, cultural mediators, all APC mobile teams’ members, allowing migrants to take advantage of their rights/information and avoid discrimination.
Legal aid for asylum seekers/refugees/persons granted protection – refers to representation of asylum seekers/exiles/refugees at all stages of the asylum and all other administrative and judicial (administrative, misdemeanour, constitutional, criminal, etc.) procedures and before all other instances in Serbia, moreover helping them in resolving the current, every day and other problems to which asylum seekers encounter (documents, health care, social services, family reunification, police procedures, guardianship procedures, legal position, education, violation of their rights, discrimination, etc.). Legal aid include legal representation and legal counseling to people who have been granted asylum in Serbia (refugee, subsidiary or other protection) in all types of procedures from registration, obtaining documents, to the exercise of health care, social assistance, access to labor market, right to work, education, integration, nostrifications and more.
Psychological support for asylum seekers/refugees/persons granted protection – includes providing individual and group psychological counseling, crisis intervention and other types of psychological support, with the goal of preventing and eliminating psychological difficulties, empowering asylum seekers/exiles/refugees to overcome existing psychological problems.
Pedagogical/educational support for asylum seekers/refugees/persons granted protection – includes individual and group pedagogical assistance and discussions with beneficiaries in order to identify existing development, education and other problems and find possible ways to overcome them. It includes educational and pedagogical support to children and youth in the process/on course of school enrollment. Special attention is paid to individual and specific characteristics of beneficiaries, especially children and youth, and their specific vulnerability in Serbia.
Interaction/integration and social assistance – is realized through assistance provided to asylum seekers/persons granted protection in getting accommodation, working licenses and access to employment, looking for employers, assistance in getting certificates, in getting documents and permissions, in education process, in language learning and in building interaction within local communities, in supporting socialization, cultural and other participation and building normal life and perspectives for beneficiaries. This assistance moreover include vocational trainings, cultural mediators’ trainings, etc.
Work with minors, unaccompanied minors and youth asylum seekers/exiles/refugees is realized through legal representation in asylum procedure, through provision of comprehensive legal and psychosocial aid to minors and youth and through workshop type of work that develops their self-confidence, communication, expression, creative, interaction and integration capacities, across Serbia.
Supporting enrolment of asylum seeking/refugee children in the education system – through legal support into enrolment process, realization of preparation workshops and language workshops for children, pedagogical support to children on course of education and support to parents, including strengthening capacities of relevant local and central actors in charge/involved in the education of asylum seeking children.
Work within Centers for Children and Adolescents Belgrade, Nis (ZVDO), is realized through provision of comprehensive legal and psychosocial aid to minors, working closely with same institutions and centres for social work in protecting best interests of the children.
Workshops for asylum seekers/exiles/refugees – include empowering, creative, cultural, integration, adaptive, and health workshops with a specific focus on youth, women and children asylum seekers/exiles/refugees, as a particularly vulnerable groups of beneficiaries.
Activities in local communities (Bogovadja and Lajkovac, Banja Koviljaca and Loznica, Sjenica, Tutin, Beograd, Krnjaca, Subotica, Presevo and elsewhere) – include joint workshops of local children and asylum seeking children, lectures, workshops in local schools, exhibitions for asylum seekers, concerts, events and fairs, football matches between local citizens and asylum seekers, youth camps, promotions regarding asylum seekers’ countries of origins (traditional cuisine, cartoon drawings, kite-making/flying, hairstyles of African descent, etc.) with the aim of establishing intercultural dialogue, interaction and building trust and understanding in the local environment.
The Collection, preparation and publication of Stories of Asylum – The authentic journeys and stories of asylum seekers gathered through the field work of the APC team about the reasons for leaving their countries of origin, their journey, and their expectations for the future are prepared and published in special APC editions of Asylum Stories.
Assisting asylum seekers/exiles/refugees in Medical Situations includes assisting beneficiaries within hospitals and health centres, ensuring respect of their right to health care services, pyschosocial support, provision of interpreters in cases where they are needed.
Activities in border areas and monitoring includes regular visits to transit centres, informal refugee and migrant settlements in border zones, where our teams provide information, legal and psychosocial support while monitoring existing border practices, respect of human rights, development of events, respect of laws and treatment of beneficiaries and their position including at times the occasional distribution of humanitarian aid.
Trainings for representatives of local and state institutions, civil society, activists, young professionals, translators, students – includes provision of trainings on asylum, migration, asylum laws/human rights, COI research, psychosocial support and legal work with asylum seekers/refugees/migrants, intercultural, integration, interaction and workshop techniques, on work with migrant/refugee children and vulnerable groups, on child educational support. All with the aim of raising capacity of relevant actors in the field of asylum and migration, in work with specific and vulnerable refugee groups, improving asylum and migration laws and practices and psychosocial support to benificiaries, thus improving local asylum/migration system.
APC/CZA local and international student practices – provision of internships and practices for local and foreign students (law, political science, sociology, psychology, media and communication, locial work students), organized through fieldwork and office work in APC, with the aim of transferring knowledge, expertise, experience to young or future professionals who will be active in the asylum and other systems of support and work with migrants/asylum seekers/refugees in Serbia or abroad.
Advocacy and public campaigns – undertaking advocacy activities, public and media campaigns, maintaining excellent cooperation with media and building upon APC’s strong media position, in order to raise awareness of the local citizens in the context of asylum and migration, combating prejudice and xenophobia and working actively to strengthen the concept of protecting asylum seekers and refugees in Serbia.
Regional and worldwide cooperation and exchange of experience and good practices – includes undertaking of joint projects, cooperation and various joint activities with “sister” organizations, academic institutions and other actors, from the region, Europe or worldwide, sharing information, experiences and practices, working on joint caseload, building networks and initiatives, undertaking joint advocacy campaigns, all in order to respond to new challenges through regional, European or Worldwide initiatives in protecting asylum seekers/refugees/exiles and fighting for rightful, tolerant and inclusive societies.
Distributing humanitarian aid for asylum seekers and refugees in Belgrade and other places in which they are located in Serbia – realized through fieldwork of the APC teams that directly and daily distribute focused humanitarian aid to beneficiaries, e.g. hygiene products, baby food and aid, water, food, tents, sleeping bags, shoes, clothes and every other form of humanitarian aid in need.