[JURIST] The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing [official profile] called [press release] Tuesday on the Serbian government to take immediate action to improve the current housing crisis that has left many Serbian citizens without adequate housing. While Serbia boasts a high rate of homeownership due to the privatization and sale of public housing stock in the 1990s, homeowners and renters reportedly suffer from inadequate living arrangements. The special rapporteur noted that both groups have “indicated that heating, electricity bills and other housing charges are simply unaffordable,” while renters are being evicted for being in arrears. The UN sees it as imperative that the government implement national regulations controlling the availability, affordability and security of tenure in housing for all. However, the report noted the current discriminatory and exclusionary methods taken against marginalized groups, most notably the Roma, and stressed that any legislation enacted should be made with an eye towards human rights and the equal protection of all groups present in the nation.

The Serbian government has often been appealed to by the UN and other rights groups to improve their adherence to human rights tenets. In 2011 Amnesty International (AI) [advocacy website] entreated [JURIST report] the Serbian government to stop the forced eviction of Roma, and to provide them with adequate housing and compensation. In 2012 the High Commissioner for Human Rights urged [JURIST report] Serbia to protect universal freedoms by lifting a ban on a pride parade for the LGBT community. Last month Human Rights Watch (HRW) released a report criticizing [JURIST repot] the alleged extortion and physical abuse inflicted by Serbian authorities on asylum-seekers and migrants escaping war-torn countries.