Under the new Asylum Act, the Republic of Serbia shall ensure conditions for naturalisation of refugees, commensurate to its capacity.[1] The conditions, the procedure and other issues relevant to their naturalisation shall be defined by the Government on a proposal of CRM.[2] However, the Citizenship Act[3] and Foreigners Act are not harmonised with the Asylum Act. Thus, none of these two acts recognise foreigners granted asylum as foreigners who are entitled to acquire Serbian citizenship.
However, the relevant amendments to the Citizenship Act specifying the conditions for acquisition of citizenship have not been adopted yet. Thus, persons granted asylum cannot obtain citizenship. The issue of naturalisation was one the questions put forward by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in 2019.[4]
[1] Article 71(1) Asylum Act.
[2] Article 71(2) Asylum Act.
[3] Official Gazette no. 135/04, 90/7 and 24/18.
[4] CESCR, List of Issues in relation to the third periodic report of Serbia*, 12 November 2019, E/C.12/SRB/Q/3, para. 12.