“Those who cannot register are not citizens, they have no rights. That is still how things are for us in Novi Sad. No education for the children, no support in finding a job or a home. It is very difficult.”
Krasnici family – Serbia
“Someone once said on television that we, Roma, are like a stone on the street that every passerby kicks. That is how it has felt for a quarter of a century. In 1999, we fled Kosovo because of pro-Serbian statements by some of our compatriots, but we couldn’t find refuge in Novi Sad either, in Serbia. Between 2010 and 2019, we tried twice to settle in Belgium. In the end, we returned voluntarily to Serbia. We work as day labourers as much as possible, but without registration we don’t get any help. And our children? They are not allowed to go to school. If you don’t have any papers, you don’t exist.”
Did you know...
- Families account for half of all returnees.
- Three-quarters of all men, women and families who voluntarily returned home in 2024 did so with the help of reintegration assistance.