Introduction
The civil war (1992 – 1995) which followed the dissolution of communist Yugoslavia had significant political, economic, and social consequences for the region. One of the most important social consequences was the forced displacement of people, which resulted in nearly three million[1] people from the former Yugoslavia being forced to leave their homes. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and particularly Serbia, has been widely affected by this process. According to the Yugoslav 1996 census data on refugees, over 650.000 people (mostly from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia) have been forcedly displaced to Serbia.[2] Due to the fact that the capacity of the state to help the population in need was very limited, a wide range of civil society actors helped the refugees. Religious communities and, particularly, religiously based humanitarian organisations dealt with this issue in a significant manner. For example, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC), as the dominant religious actor in the country, responded to this crisis mostly through its local network of parishes, and its humanitarian organisation Čovekoljublje (Philanthropy). Other religious communities were also very active in helping the population in need. For example, Caritas Serbia, ADRA, or the Bread of Life. However, their work has been widely affected by the socio-economic situation in Serbia, hyperinflation, and the problem of securing funds for their activities.
Religion, ethnicity and population
According to the latest census data (2011), the total population of the Republic of Serbia is 7,186,862, without Kosovo and Metohija.[3] When it comes to the religious and ethnic composition, Serbia is a predominately homogenous country, even though the data shows a wide range of religions represented, as well as various ethnicities. Regarding the religious composition, 6,079,396 people (84.6 per cent) are affiliated with Orthodox Christianity. Serbia’s religious composition also includes Roman Catholicism (five per cent), Islam (three per cent), followed by Protestantism (one per cent), Eastern religions (0.1 per cent), and 578 Jews. The 2011 census also shows a number of atheists (1.1 per cent), and a relatively significant number of people who did not want to indicate their religious affiliation (three per cent). The dominant religious community is the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC). Meanwhile, the ethnic composition of the country is as follows: Serbs represent the vast majority of population (83.32 per cent), followed by Hungarians (3.53 per cent), Romas (2.05 per cent), Bosnians (2.02 per cent), Croatians (0.81 per cent) and Slovaks (0.73 per cent).[4] The next census will be conducted in April 2021.
Studies show that there is a strong correlation between religion and ethnicity in the Western Balkan region.[5] Thus, ethnicity in Serbia is closely related to religious affiliation. Even though it does not imply that a person cannot be a Serb if he/she is not affiliated with Orthodox Christianity, it is highly likely that affiliation with Orthodox Christianity corresponds with a Serbian ethnic background. However, recent surveys also show a low level of religiosity and religious activities within the Serbian population.[6] That is why the religious pattern in Serbia can be explained through the formula of ‘belonging without believing,’ as the majority of the population claims to identify with the SOC, yet shows a low level of religious activity. However, in their recent article Veković and Đogatović lament the paucity of scholarship about religion’s political significance in the Balkan states since the breakup of Yugoslavia.[7]
Religion-state relations
The dissolution of the communist regimes across Eastern Europe has been followed by a process of religious resurgence. This was also the case in Serbia, where the SOC offered itself as the ‘traditional bastion of national security and the centre of national life, as evidenced by its centuries-long role as the single institution that ‘never in history betrayed the Serbian people’.[8] The religious life of Serbia has been regulated by the 1990 Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, and particularly in Article 41, paragraph one, proclaims the freedom of religion, which includes the freedom of beliefs, confession of faith, and the freedom to perform religious rites.[9] Paragraph two of the same article adopted the secular concept of the state, and acknowledges that religious communities are free to organise their affairs and perform religious rites and activities. Moreover, paragraph three states that religious communities are free to organise religious schools and humanitarian organisations, while paragraph four asserts that the state can fund religious communities.[10] Religion-state relations during the regime of Slobodan Milošević (1991 – 2000) were dominated by the role of the SOC and its two main requests to the state: the introduction of religious education in schools, and the returning of property confiscated by the former communist regime. Both demands were denied by the state on multiple occasions. Moreover, church-state relations became even more complicated after the forced displacement of populations from Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina to Serbia in 1992 – 1995. After the democratic revolution and the fall of Milošević’s regime in 2000, church-state relations in Serbia entered a new phase. The Serbian post-2000 regime was more positively inclined towards the SOC, and thus they supported the SOC’s main requests: religious education was introduced in schools in 2001 through the law on the ‘Regulation on Organization and Implementation of Religious Education and Teaching Alternative Courses in elementary and secondary Schools’.[11] Furthermore, in 2006 the state adopted the ‘Law on the Restoration (Restitution) of Property to the Churches and Religious Communities’.[12] Consequently, the social engagement activities of religious communities increased, particularly in the case of the SOC. However, the most important change in religion-state relations in post-communist Serbia has been the introduction of the ‘Law on Churches and Religious communities’ in 2006. [13] According to Veković, this law was necessary for several reasons, including but not limited to the ‘complexity of religious mosaic in Serbia, issue of returning of the expropriated property by the former communist regime, State’s support for clergy’s pension insurance, and the introduction of the religious education in Serbian school system.’[14] Yet, as Vukomanović pointed out, the 2006 Law led to the ‘fetatisation of the Church’.[15] One of the key characteristics of this law is the introduction of a distinction between traditional churches and religious communities and confessional communities, and other religious organisations (Article 4). Article 10, paragraph one, of this law lists the traditional religious communities in this order: the Serbian Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Slovak Evangelical Church, the Reformed Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church, the Islamic community and the Jewish community.[16] The argument of the law is that traditional religious communities deserves a special legal status due to their historical importance and previous legal status (Article 10, paragraph two), as these communities were legally recognised by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia prior to 1945. Moreover, Article 17 introduced the ‘Register of churches and religious communities’. This register was organised by the Ministry of Faith of the Republic of Serbia until 2012, when this ministry ceased to exist. Since then, the ‘Register of churches and religious communities’ has been conducted by the Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities within the Ministry of Justice.[17] The introduction of the ‘Law on Churches and Religious Communities’ was strongly criticised by several Serbian civil society organisations. The Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia received four motions to determine the constitutionality of the 2006 law, as well as two initiatives for determining the constitutionality of several articles of the law. In 2013, the constitutional court decided to reject all proposals and initiatives.[18]
Religion and forced displacement
The dissolution of communist Yugoslavia, followed by the civil war (1992 – 1995), which also had significant religious background, triggered mass population movements in the region. This conflict resulted in nearly three million people from the former Yugoslavia being forced to leave their homes.[19] Serbia, at that time a part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY), was greatly affected by the population movement, mainly from Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to relevant sources, by December 1995 over 650,000 people had been displaced from Croatia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina to Serbia and the FRY as a whole. It was ‘the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War,’ and as Helton argued, ‘the conflict in the former Yugoslavia became synonymous with a generation of refugees and displaced persons’.[20] Moreover, the Kosovo and Metohija conflict from 1999 resulted in about 200,000 displaced people. The majority of the displaced population moved to the capital city of Belgrade.[21]
The first census of refugees and forcibly displaced people was done in June 1996. The census registered a total of 566,275 refugees and forcibly displaced persons.[22] Most of them, 550,920, as stated in Table 1, had come from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia, while others hailed from other former Yugoslav republics, or did not want to answer the question concerning their place of origin. The majority of the population movement occurred in two major waves. The first wave was in 1992, while the second wave happened in late 1995. According to the 1996 census, 91.1 per cent of the people who moved to Serbia and the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the period 1991 – 1995 were Serbs. Although there are no data on the religious affiliation of displaced population arriving in Serbia, it is highly likely that the majority of them were Orthodox Christians.
Table 1. Forced displacement of people from Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia to the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Serbia, 1991 – 1996.[23]
The number of forcibly displaced people significantly declined in the post-1997 period, mostly due to the fact that majority of them were naturalised, and received Serbian citizenship. Out of the total of 566,275 people registered in the 1996 census, more than 60 per cent indicated that they wanted to receive the citizenship of the Republic of Serbia and stay there. On the other hand, only nine per cent declared that they wanted to return to their homes, while over 50,000 people stated that they wanted to move to a third country.[24]
In the aftermath of the civil war, Serbia was a war-torn country characterised by a high level of hyperinflation, and social and political instability. The population increase of roughly ten per cent as a consequence of the forced displacement represented a big challenge for the state. The needs of this section of the population included, but were not limited to, solving the main existential questions and thus the development of social and economic infrastructure. Even though the state tried to respond to these needs, its capacities were very limited. That is why one the key actors in providing support to the population in need were actually religious communities, and particularly religiously based humanitarian organisations. According to Stojić-Mitrović and Đurić-Milovanović, ‘During the 1990s, the activities of faith-based organisations were concentrated on the direct provision of humanitarian aid to refugees and internally-displaced people as victims of wars in Yugoslavia’.[25] As the dominant religious actor in Serbia, and as the institution representing the dominant religious affiliation of the displaced population, the Serbian Orthodox Church (SOC) was the most active religious institution in this regard. The first response of the SOC to the crisis was the foundng of the charity and humanitarian organisation Philanthropy.[26] Providing humanitarian help was the key activity of Philanthropy during the 1990s. On the other hand, it should be noted that the work of this organisation was highly dependent on donations and state support, which were not sufficient to meet all the needs of the displaced population. In the post-2000 period, this organisation focused on developing and implementing various development programs for marginalised and endangered groups within Serbia. The SOC also used its far-reaching network of parishes in order to help the population in need. However, it should be also said that the even though the SOC was the dominant religious actor, the years under the Yugoslav communist regime (1945 – 1990) left significant consequences on its material base for social engagement and activities. Moreover, it should be also stated that the majority of other Orthodox Christian Churches were also undergoing a post-communist transition process, and were therefore unable to offer any significant material support. At the same time, the state and the regime of Slobodan Milošević were not particularly interested in religion, and consequently in the needs of the SOC. These are the main reasons why the SOC did not engage more in helping the displaced population, even though it did all that was possible at that time and given the political context. At this time, other religious communities were also very active in helping the displaced population. Among others, the Belgrade Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church and the Adventist Development Relief Agency, the global humanitarian organisation of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, were very active in helping the displaced population. When it comes to the Belgrade Archdiocese, the main activities were organissed through the Serbian branch of the Caritas organisation (founded in 1995). By using the support of its strong international network, this organisation was very engaged in meeting the needs of the displaced population in Serbia. According to their data, they provided food, fuel and shelter to thousands of people in the 1990s. By the end of 2000, their estimates suggest that they reached over two million people in different ways.[27] The Serbian branch of the ADRA (the global humanitarian organisation of the Seventh-day Adventist Church) was founded in 1990, and was very active in helping the displaced population. Even though this organisation came to prominence during the siege of Sarajevo, when they managed to bring the humanitarian help into the city, they were also very active in the FRY, and particularly Serbia.[28] Lastly, a humanitarian organisation called ‘Bread for Life’, jointly founded in 1992 in Belgrade by the Protestant evangelical church and the Baptist church, responded very actively to the needs of the population. Their activities were focused on providing such things as material aid, self-support programmes, psychosocial support, medical assistance and Christmas presents for children.[29]
Policy perspectives
The best responses on the part of religious communities to the forced displacement of people came as a result of cooperation between state actors on one side, and the religious communities on the other. However, even though the state of Serbia adopted a law on refugees in 1992 and formed a body entitled the ‘Commissariat for Refugees’, the level of cooperation was rather very low.[30] The state did had neither the capacity to support the activities of religious communities, nor the ability to leverage their huge potential, as their cooperation was under the influence of the wider socio-political context. The potential of religious communities to help the population in need was based in their widespread network of parishes (particularly of the SOC), as well as strong ties with international humanitarian networks (particularly in the case of the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches). That is why the religious communities have been left alone to deal with this issue. If the Commissariat for Refugees had responded by forming a special institution for cooperation with religious communities with regard to dealing with people in need, had helped them reach international support and the funds, and had then used their local network of parishes to disseminate aid, it is likely that the outcome of their work would have been much better. On the other hand, the state could also have used the local networks of parishes to disseminate their own funds to help displaced people without any additional costs. The problem of the displaced population should be also tackled through a bottom-up approach, particularly now, more than 20 years after the civil war. The needs of the displaced population today should be carefully surveyed, analysed and identified, and joint programs between the state and all interested religious communities should be developed in accordance with the findings. Lastly, the population in need would benefit greatly from joint programmes organised by different religious communities. Yet, this sort of cooperation and collaboration between religious communities should be also encouraged and supported by the state, since it did not occur spontaneously in the 1990s.
However, even without any significant state support, the level of engagement of Serbia’s religious communities in dealing with populations in need was quite considerable. The Roman Catholic Church, as well as numerous Protestant communities, used their international humanitarian networks to provide help for the displaced population, while the SOC used its humanitarian organisation Philanthropy, as well as its local network of parishes to meet the population’s needs.
Aleksandra Djuric-Milovanovic is an anthropologist working as an Associate Research Professor at the Institute for Balkan Studies of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Her publications include, Distinctive Aspects of the Religion and Ethnicity of Romanians in Vojvodina (Institute for Balkan Studies SASA, 2015), Orthodox Christian Renewal Movements in Eastern Europe (co-editor with Radmila Radic; Palgrave Macmillan, 2017) and The Romanian Orthodox Church in the Yugoslav Banat between Two World Wars (co-author with Mircea Maran; Cluj University Press 2019).
Marko Veković is an Assistant Professor of Religion and Politics at University of Belgrade – Faculty of Political Sciences. His recent publications include: ‘Errando Discimus: Has Post-Yugoslav Political and Social Science Neglected Religion?’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (2019), ‘Render unto Caesar: Explaining Political Dimension of the Autocephaly Demands in Ukraine and Montenegro’, Journal of Church and State (2019) and, ‘In Pursuit of ‘Twin Toleration’: Democracy and Church–State Relations in Serbia and Montenegro’, Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe (2019). His book Democratization in Christian Orthodox Europe: Comparing Greece, Serbia and Russia is forthcoming with the Routledge series in Religion and Politics (June 2020).
Cover photo: ‘Refugees registering for humanitarian aid provided by the Bread of Life outside the Baptist Church, Belgrade, April 1997′. Copyright: Dane Vidović. Printed with author’s permission.
[1] Silva Meznarić, Jelena Zlarković, ‘Winter, Forced Migration and Refugee flows in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina: Early Warning, Beginning and Current State of Flows’, Refuge, Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 1993, 12 (7), p. 3; Kristina Zitnanova, ‘Refugee Protection and International Migration in the Western Balkans’, March 2014, UNHCR, p. 13, available at https://www.unhcr.org/5375c9ab9.pdf. All websites were accessed on 5 December 2019.
[1] Silva Meznarić, Jelena Zlarković, ‘Winter, Forced Migration and Refugee flows in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina: Early Warning, Beginning and Current State of Flows’, Refuge, Canada’s Journal on Refugees, 1993, 12 (7), p. 3; Kristina Zitnanova, ‘Refugee Protection and International Migration in the Western Balkans’, March 2014, UNHCR, p. 13, available at https://www.unhcr.org/5375c9ab9.pdf. All websites were accessed on 5 December 2019.
[2] According to: Popis izbeglica i drugih ratom ugroženih lica u Saveznoj Republici Jugoslaviji, (Census of Refugees and other war-affected persons in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), UNHCR, Komesarijat za izbeglice Republike Srbije, Komesarijat za raseljena lica Crne Gore (UNHCR, Commissariat for Refugee of Republic of Serbia, Commissariat for displaced persons of Montenegro), 1996, p. 16.
[3] In 2011 Census there were no conditions on the territory of the south Serbian province for the conduction of a census, just like in the 2002 Census. The 1991 Census was boycotted by the majority of the Albanian population.
[4] All stated according to the ‘2011 Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in the Republic of Serbia’, Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia, Belgrade, Serbia.
[5] See for example Vjekoslav Perica, Balkan Idols: Religion and Nationalism in Yugoslav States, Oxford University Press, 2002, pp. 7-9; Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe, Pew Research Center, available at https://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/; Miroljub Jevtić, Uloga religije u identitetu južnoslovenskih naroda (The Role of Religion in the identity of South-Slavic People), Godišnjak FPN, 2008, 2 (2), pp. 171-186.
[6] Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe.
[7] Marko Veković, Veljko Đogatović, ‘Errando Discimus: Has Post-Yugoslav Political and Social Science Neglected Religion?’, Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 2019, 58 (3), pp. 753-763.
[8] Radmila Radić, „The Church and the ‘Serbian Question’”, in: The Road to War in Serbia: Trauma and Catharsis, Nebojša Popov (ed.), Central European University Press, Budapest, 2000, p. 250.
[9] ‘Ustav Republike Srbije“, Službeni glasnik Republike Srbije (Constitution of Republic of Serbia), Beograd, 1990.
[10] Ibid, Article 41, Paragraphs 1-4.
[11] ‘Uredba o organizovanju i ostvarivanju verske nastave i nastave alternativnog predmeta u osnovnoj i srednjoj školi’ (Regulation on Organization and Implementation of Religious Education and Teaching Alternative Courses in elementary and secondary Schools), Službeni glasnik Republike Srbije (Constitution of Republic of Serbia), br. 46, 27 July 2001.
[12] ‘Zakon o vraćanju (restituciji) imovine crkvama i verskim zajednicama’ (Law on the Restoration (Restitution) of Property to the Churches and Religious Communities)., Službeni glasnik Republike Srbije (Constitution of Republic of Serbia), br. 46/2006.
[13] ‘Zakon o crkvama i verskim zajednicama’ (Law on Churches and religious communities), Službeni glasnik, br. 36/2006, Beograd.
[14] Marko Veković, ‘In Pursuit of ‘Twin Toleration’: Democracy and Church–State Relations in Serbia and Montenegro’, Occasional Papers on Religion in Eastern Europe, 2019, 39 (5), pp. 102-103.
[15] Milan Vukomanović, ‘The Serbian Orthodox Church in the Aftermatch of October 5, 2000’¸ Politics and Religion, 2008, 1 (2), p. 247.
[16] ‘Zakon o crkvama i verskim zajednicama’ (Law on Churches and religious communities), Službeni glasnik, br. 36/2006, Beograd.
[17] ‘Directorate for Cooperation with Churches and Religious Communities’, available at http://www.vere.gov.rs/Cir/Start1.asp?cmd=resetall
[18] ‘Odluka o odbijanju predloga za ocenu ustavnosti/zakonitosti’ (Decision to reject the motions for review of constitionality), Ustavni sud Republike Srbije, Predmet: IУз-455/2011, Službeni glasnik RS, br. 23/2013.
[19] Silva Meznarić, Jelena Zlarković Winter, Forced Migration and Refugee flows in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina: Early Warning, Beginning and Current State of Flows, Refuge, 1993, 12 (7), p. 3; Kristina Zitnanova, “Refugee Protection and International Migration in the Western Balkans”, March 2014, UNHCR, p. 13, available at https://www.unhcr.org/5375c9ab9.pdf
[20] Silva Meznarić, Jelena Zlarković Winter, Forced Migration and Refugee flows in Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina: Early Warning, Beginning and Current State of Flows, Refuge, 1993, 12 (7), p. 3; Kristina Zitnanova, “Refugee Protection and International Migration in the Western Balkans”, March 2014, UNHCR, p. 13, available at https://www.unhcr.org/5375c9ab9.pdf
[20] “War and Humanitarian Action: Iraq and the Balkans”, in: The State of World’s Refugees: Fifty Years of Humanitarian Actions, UNHCR, January 1st 2000, p. 218, available at https://www.unhcr.org/3ebf9bb50.pdf; Artur C. Helton, ‘Forced Migration in the Former Yugoslavia’, Cambridge Review of International Affairs, 1999, 12 (2), p. 184.
[21] See Vesna Lukić, Dve decenije izbeglištva u Srbiji (Two decades of refugees in Serbia), Republički zavod za statistiku, Beograd, 2015, Izbeglički korpus u Srbiji prema podacima popisa stanovništva 2002., Ministarstvo za ljudska i manjinska prava Srbije i Crne Gore, Beograd, 2004 (Refugees in Serbia according to the 2002 Census).
[22] Popis izbeglica i drugih ratom ugroženih lica u Saveznoj Republici Jugoslaviji (Census of Refugees and other war-affected persons in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia) UNHCR, Komesarijat za izbeglice Republike Srbije, Komesarijat za raseljena lica Crne Gore (UNHCR, Commissariat for Refugee of Republic of Serbia, Commissariat for displaced persons of Montenegro), 1996, p. 16.
[23] Popis izbeglica i drugih ratom ugroženih lica u Saveznoj Republici Jugoslaviji (Census of Refugees and other war-affected persons in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia), UNHCR, Komesarijat za izbeglice Republike Srbije, Komesarijat za raseljena lica Crne Gore (UNHCR, Commissariat for Refugee of Republic of Serbia, Commissariat for displaced persons of Montenegro), 1996.
[24] Ibid, pp. 9-10.
[25] Marta Stojić Mitrović, Aleksandra Đurić-Milovanović, „The humanitarian engagement of faith-based organisations in Serbia, Balancing between the Vulnerable Human and the (In)Secure (Nation)State“, in: Forced Migration and Human Security in the Eastern Orthodox World, Lucian Leustean (ed.), Routledge, UK, 2019, p. 210.
[26] Čovekoljublje ‘Philanthropy’ organization at https://www.covekoljublje.org/en/
[27] ‘Caritas Serbia’” organization at https://caritas.rs
[28] ‘ADRA Serbia’ organization at https://adra.org.rs
[29] ‘Bread of Life’ organization at http://www.breadoflife.org.rs/en/about.php
[30] ‘Zakon o izbeglicama (Law on Refuges), Službeni glasnik Republike Srbije, God. XLVII, No. 18, 1992.