After sending three emails over a period of a month and a half requesting an interview with UNHCR Serbia for my research—and receiving no response—I decided to visit their offices in person with a colleague to schedule an appointment.
Upon arrival, one of the four security guards asked us to wait in a narrow space between the entrance door and the baggage scanner. We stood there for 20 minutes before the same guard, looking apologetic, informed us that we should send yet another email to the same address.
This time, we finally got a reply! But not to acknowledge our previous unanswered emails or to apologize for making us wait outside. Instead, they reprimanded us for showing up without an appointment—as if there had ever been a way to schedule one in the first place.
The email stated that “refugees in the Republic of Serbia live in private accommodation and there are no collective camps or shelters for this category.” As for an interview? That was out of the question, as camp-related matters supposedly fall under the jurisdiction of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration (SCRM).
And yet, it is UNHCR—not the Commissariat—that has produced hundreds of reports on Serbia since 2015. According to the UNHCR Data Portal, UNHCR Serbia has published 252 reports under the title Serbia Update—released daily, weekly, or monthly—all of which discuss among others the situation in Serbia’s camps. Additionally, 87 reports under the title Statistical Snapshots track changes also in the camp population. Another 30 documents, titled 3W or 4W (Who is Doing What and Where), analyze the various actors involved in the camps and their respective responsibilities, such as protection, WASH, or legal aid. Even in the fewer reports titled Serbia – Site Profiles, UNHCR explicitly states its involvement in Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) activities in Serbia.
So, of course, UNHCR has absolutely no knowledge of the political economies of camps in Serbia. How could they?
