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‘His heart stopped and they took him away – that simple.’
The main respondent is a 27-year-old man from Syria, who was residing at the Sjenica Asylum Centre, in the southwest of Serbia. On the evening of Thursday 1st May 2025, he died of a heart attack. His friend, who is also residing in Sjenica, outlined the events that led to his passing away to us (NNK Activists).Prior to his arrival in Sjenica, he had been staying in AC Tutin. Here, his behaviour was described as fluctuating between consciousness and unconsciousness, whereby he would not be emotionally or socially present. His friend tells us that he had ‘djinn’ (a supernatural belief in Arabian cultures) inside of him, which caused this. It was observed that he would isolate himself in Tutin, spending his days drinking Coca-Cola and smoking cigarettes, which he funded by asking for money around the city centre.
Centre for Asylum in Sjenica – the location where the respondent was residing and passed away.
Upon his transfer to Sjenica, following the closure of Tutin last summer, his self-isolation and consumption habits intensified. Other residents of the camp became aware of this and realised that he had stopped returning to eat in the cafeteria, remaining in town to ask for money or isolating elsewhere. They notified the UNHCR field representatives in the camp and asked them to intervene – not only in this case, but also with many other health-related complaints that had arisen. They were told that the camp was unable to provide medical care unless it was requested by the recipient and that somebody could not be forced to see a doctor or receive medication. Those around the respondent at the time told us that he was not of sound mind or capable of making decisions in the best interest of his health and, thus, was not compos mentis in his refusal of healthcare. Despite the evident deterioration of the respondent’s condition, there was no medical intervention by the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration regarding his lack of eating, nor any provision of mental health support for his psychological distress.Between 22:30 and 23:00 on Thursday 1st May 2025, police cars arrived at the camp, and the employees informed the residents that they were forbidden from leaving their rooms. Due to their restricted movements, friends of the respondent were unable to understand what had happened, so they went to sleep. The following morning, around 8:00, security guards informed them that the respondent had died the night before, provoking confrontations about the circumstances surrounding his passing and their dissatisfaction with the inhumane camp conditions. They were then told that his heart had stopped and he had been taken away for burial. His friends emphasised the connection between the lack of psychological support and his heart attack.
On Monday 5th May 2025, the respondent was buried in the graveyard of the local mosque in Sjenica, alongside two other people on the move who have fallen victim to the criminal negligence of Asylum Centre Sjenica and the Commissariat – one in December and the other unrecorded. Together with the death of another person in February, the respondent’s passing brings the death toll in Sjenica to three in the past six months, and four in the past year.Following his burial, we have been told that everything in the camp has returned to business as usual, and few people seem to care about what happened a mere few weeks ago. There have been no alterations to healthcare provision made. In fact, we have been made aware of multiple other camp residents who are in similar situations, whose conditions have worsened since the death of the respondent.
medical analysis
According to IDEAs, people on the move in Serbia who are medically eligible for inpatient psychiatric care are not provided with the opportunity for institutionalisation. This means the respondent would not have been able to access specialised care, even if a psychological evaluation had been conducted, as requested by other camp residents.
legal analysis
Recommendations for the improvement and protection of mental health provision for refugees and asylum seekers from the WHO and PIN were adopted by the Ministry for Health and the Commissariat in 2018. These outline how mental health services should be made available through the public healthcare system and supported by NGOs, where necessary. Despite this, no psychological support is available through the state in AC Sjenica, with the majority of non-governmental services being concentrated in Belgrade. The Commissariat is not fulfilling its obligations to implement the aforementioned guidelines and is allowing the burden of services to fall on civil society groups.Aside from these national policies, Serbia is party to the International Convenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, which, under Article 12, establishes the Right to Health. This applies even if a person is in detention or unlawfully present within a territory, and, therefore, Serbia must provide basic health and safety protections to all persons, including the respondent. These obligations are reaffirmed under Article 54 of Serbia's Asylum Act, which states that asylum seekers shall have the right to access healthcare in an equal manner to citizens.
overview
1 people ,
from Syria,
aged 27.