Author
The Commissariat for Refugees and Migration (CRM) is in charge of governing asylum and reception centres in Serbia.[1] There are 5 Asylum Centres (AC) and 7 Reception Centres (RC) which can be put in use for accommodation of refugees, asylum seekers and other categories of people on the move. What is important to note is that most of these facilities were established in 2015/2016 with significant financial support provided to Serbia from the EU, but also by international organisations such as the UNHCR and IOM, individual countries/embassies and agencies. The main purpose of these facilities was temporary accommodation of hundreds of thousands of persons who transited through Serbia in 2015/2016. For those reasons, the structure and materials available in the reception facilities are mostly designed for a short-term stay.
In 2023, a total of 17 asylum and reception centres were operational for entire or at least the part of the year. Asylum Centre in Bogovađa and Reception Centre in Bela Palanka – Divljana were not operational at all.[2]
In 2024, a total of 12 asylum and reception centres were operational for at least part of the year. RC Principovci was designated for accommodation of UASC after RC Šid had been closed. RC Šid was in operation only during the first half of the year, and that was also the case with RCs Pirot, Dimitrovgrad and Bosilegrad. On the other hand, RCs Bujanovac and Preševo were active throughout the year. As for asylum centres, AC Tutin was closed in the second half of the year, while ACs Krnjača, Obrenovac, Sjenica and Vranje were operational throughout the entire year. At the end of 2024, ACs Krnjača, Obrenovac, Vranje and Sjenica, as well as RCs Preševo, Bujanovac and Principovci were opeartional.[3] The reception Centre in Bela Palanka – Divljana was permanently closed.
In 2025, a total of 6 asylum and reception centres were operational for the entire year, while AC Krnjača was permanently closed in June 2025. Also, AC Bogovađa, RC Šid, RC Bela Palanka, RC Dimitrovgrad and RC Adaševci were permanently closed in the past two years. Thus, at the end of 2025, a total of 12 reception facilities were at disposal of CRM and only 6 operational
Even though the official data of the CRM indicated that total capacities of all reception facilities were 8,155 in 2022, in 2023 and 2024, the capacities outlined show more realistic picture – 5,625, plus additional 500 beds which can be secured in AC Bogovađa and RC Divljana. Thus, around 6,125 beds could have been secured if needed in 2023.[4] In 2024, this number was 6,846. In 2025, this number was 5,046, and after the closure of AC Krnjača in June 2025, the number was 4,216. In saying that, the reception capacity is mostly measured in terms of available beds and not in accordance with certain standards, for instance, EUAA Guidelines,[5] or other standards developed by other bodies such as CPT,[6] or the CESCR.[7]
It remains unclear why capacity fluctuates every year, but it is important to outline that no entity has ever performed an independent, non-biased, impartial, thorough and objective assessment of reception conditions in Serbia and in relation to various human rights criteria which imply adequate housing, safety, privacy, hygiene, food, medical assistance, safeguards for vulnerable groups, access to other services, etc. Only after this assessment realistic and human rights-based capacities can be determined and they are significantly lower the official one.
| Year | Asylum Centres | Reception Centres | Total |
| 2021 | 3,050 | 3,155 | 6,205 |
| 2022 | 3,050 | 5,105 | 8,155 |
| 2023 | 3,050 | 3,075 | 6,125 |
| 2024 | 3,050 | 3,075 | 6,125 |
| 2025 (without AC Krnjača) | 2,006 | 2,210 | 4,216 |
In 2024, AC Krnjača was mostly accommodating vulnerable applicants: families with small children, persons with disabilities, persons with health and psychosocial needs, LGBTQI+ applicants, SGBV survivors and others. AC Obrenovac[8] and AC Sjenica accommodate single males, but most of them were not willing to apply for asylum. After AC Krnjača was permanently closed, AC Obrenovac was designated for vulnerable applicants, while AC Sjenica for single male applicants. As of 20 April 2022, AC Vranje[9] accommodated on average 40 to 70 refugees from Ukraine and this has remained the case in 2025.
It is also worth reiterating that the asylum procedure was mainly conducted in asylum centres Krnjača, Obrenovac, but also Sjenica which was visited regularly by Asylum Office.
RCs Bujanovac and Preševo, located closer to border with North Macedonia and RC Principovci located close to the border with Croatia were operational in 2024 (accomodating UaSCs). Accommodation in these facilities did not require registration certificates and these were usually large-scale facilities designed for a short-term stay in tents or other improvised shelters. [10]
Asylum seekers who are granted asylum are entitled to stay in asylum centres up to one year after their decision on asylum became final or if they are provided with financial support they have to leave from the moment the support is granted.[11] In practice, most of these people already live at a private address when they receive a positive decision.
Finally, and taking into consideration that there is no vulnerability assessment upon admission to reception facilities of the newly arrived foreigners, many vulnerable foreign nationals remain unidentified. Even when they are identified, in most cases they are not granted additional support or different conditions than other less vulnerable categories of people on the move.
[1] Article 23 Asylum Act; Chapters II and III Migration Management Act.
[2] Data obtained from UNHCR office in Serbia and practice-informed observation by IDEAS.
[3] Data obtained from UNHCR office in Serbia and practice-informed observation by IDEAS.
[4] Dana obtained by the UNHCR office in Serbia.
[5] EASO, EASO Guidance on reception conditions: operational standards and indicators, September 2016, available at: http://bit.ly/3j1XabQ.
[6] See for example CPT, Report to the Greek Government on the visit to Greece carried out by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) from 10 to 19 April 2018, 19 February 2019, CPT/Inf (2019) 4, available at: https://bit.ly/3gbcH7y, paras. 103-105.
[7] CESCR, General Comment No. 4: The Right to Adequate Housing (Art. 11 (1) of the Covenant), 13 December 1991, E/1992/23, available at: http://bit.ly/2KyNBRC.
[8] Decision of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, no. 02–5650/2021, available at: https://bit.ly/3nqLK4Z.
[9] Ibid.
[10] On general trends with regards to reception facilites which are relevant for previous years see more in AIDA, Country Report: Serbia – 2024 Update, available here, pp. 171-172
[11] Article 61 Asylum Act.