Refugee

BELGRADE - In the first two months of 2014, 1,539 people sought political asylum in Serbia, while the total for 2013 was 5,065.

"This data indicates that there will be more and more people seeking political asylum in Serbia and that it is something to consider," Executive Director of the Asylum Protection Centre Rados Djurovic has told Tanjug.

The delayed monthly financial aid for refugees will be paid by Friday, Vasil Danov of Bulgaria's State Agency for Refugees confirmed.

The February payments of BGN 65 have been delayed by the Financial Ministry and the Interior Ministry, Danov told Darik news.

Cyprus routinely detains asylum seekers and refugees in prison-like conditions, sometimes breaking European Union law by holding them for more than an 18-month maximum, Amnesty International said on Monday.

BELGRADE - U.S. Ambassador to Serbia Michael Kirby conferred on Thursday in Raska, south-western Serbia, with the Mayor of Raska Jovan Corbic on the importance of free legal assistance to displaced persons, refugees, socially vulnerable groups and the local population.

BELGRADE/BERLIN - Serbian State Secretary in the Ministry of the Interior (MUP) Vladimir Bozovic asked in Berlin for Germany's support in the search for a solution to the false asylum-seekers issue.

BELGRADE - The Coalition of Refugee Associations stated that the meeting between Serbian First Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic and his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic leads to further enhancement of the two countries relations, but it also warned that mutual respect would not be possible without first finding a fair solution to open issues.

The German Federal Service on Migration and Refugees said that 9,420 people from Macedonia lodged asylum applications in Germany in 2013, Deutsche Welle reported.

The figure represents a sharp increase from 2012, when almost 6,900 Macedonians sought asylum in Germany, and from 2011, when there were 1,750 applicants from the Balkan state.

BELGRADE - Serbia registered more irregular migrants in transit to the EU than asylum seekers, it was noted during a meeting on asylum and migration on Tuesday.

BELGRADE - Leader of the Social Democratic Party of Serbia (SDPS) Rasim Ljajic conferred with representatives of the Association of refugees, internally displaced (IDPs) and vulnerable people in Serbia which will back the list 'Aleksandar Vucic - Future We Believe In' in the early parliamentary elections on March 16.