The Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Serbia (YIHR Serbia) invites you to the presentation of the report “Passivization of addresses of Albanians in the Preševo ​​Valley as a discriminatory practice” which will be held in Belgrade, on Monday, October 23rd from 12:00 p.m. in the conference center “Envoy” (Gospodar Jevremova Street 47). The presentation of the report will be in the Serbian language.

Speakers at the presentation will be:

  • Marko Milosavljević, Author and Head of research and advocacy at YIHR Serbia
  • Dr. Miloš Rašić, Author and ethnologist
  • Relja Pantić, Head of the Complaints Department at the Expert Service of the Commissioner for Protection of Equality 

In the period from July to September 2023, YIHR Serbia conducted research in the municipalities of Bujanovac, Preševo ​​and Medveđa, with the aim of examining potential discriminatory practices related to the abuse of the Law on Residence and Temporary Residence of Citizens from 2011, particularly focusing on passivation address of citizens of Albanian nationality. The research team of the YIHR Serbia conducted four field visits in the Preševo ​​Valley, during which 23 in-depth interviews were conducted with citizens affected by passivation and 24 in-depth interviews with political actors and activists, including representatives of the municipalities of Bujanovac and Preševo, as well as representatives of the Coordination Body of the Government of the Republic of Serbia for the three municipalities of southern Serbia.

The report also maps other potential discriminatory practices against citizens of Albanian nationality, such as the detention of citizens at border crossings with Kosovo, the ban on movies in the Albanian language, the non-recognition of higher education degrees obtained in Kosovo, as well as the lack of representation of citizens of Albanian nationality in state institutions of Serbia.

Due to the limited number of places, please be sure to register via this link no later than Sunday, October 22nd at 8 p.m.

The report “Passivation of addresses of Albanians in the Preševo ​​Valley as a discriminatory practice” was published as part of the project “Disclosure of discriminatory practices in the Preševo ​​Valley” which was implemented by the YIHR Serbia together with the Committee for Human Rights from Bujanovac and with the support of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund from the United States of America.