Edited: APC             Photo: APC

Belgrade, January 20th –  The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, following a complaint made by Asylum Protection Center, issued an opinion and recommendation that VIP mobile, a mobile operator, violated the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination against a refugee who had been granted protection.

Namely, VIP mobile refused to terminate a postpaid subscriber contract for the provision of telecommunication services with a refugee from Iraq. In the process before the Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, in which a refugee from the Republic of Iraq was represented by Asylum Protection Center, it was found that the only reason for refusing to provide services to the refugee was the fact that the person was one with the status of “asylum seeker”, in the Republic of Serbia, and they were placed in a more unfavorable position than other permanent residents, without entering into the assessment of whether they met the conditions for concluding a subscription agreement.

The Commissioner expressed the view that, by refusing to provide a refugee service based on the status of the person granted asylum, VIP mobile violated the provisions of the Law on the Prohibition of Discrimination provided for by the Principle of Equal Rights and Obligations and the Prohibition of Discrimination in the Provision of Public Services.

The Commissioner further recommended VIP mobile to receive and consider the request for the provision of telecommunication services, under the same conditions, on the basis of an identification document of the refugee, that is, identity cards for persons granted asylum, that is, allow him to carry out an individual assessment as a potential company client in accordance with the company’s regulations and acts.