Yugoslavia: Whether the government issues identity cards that indicate a person's ethnicity; whether this was the case in the past; whether any current documents indicate ethnicity
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Ottawa |
| Publication Date | 26 August 2003 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | YUG41832.E |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Yugoslavia: Whether the government issues identity cards that indicate a person's ethnicity; whether this was the case in the past; whether any current documents indicate ethnicity, 26 August 2003, YUG41832.E, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/4b20f024c.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
The United States Department of State's (DOS) Visa Reciprocity and Country Document Finder refers to the following official identity documents for Serbia and Montenegro: passports, certificates of birth (rodjenih), marriage (vencanih) and death (umrlih), police (policijsko) or court records (Sudsko uverenje), and identity cards (Licna Karta) (US 22 July 2002). While noting that the identity card "contains a photograph, date and place of birth, and address of the bearer," DOS does not specify whether this or any other document denotes ethnicity (ibid.).
An assistant protection officer at the Belgrade Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees stated the following in response to queries posed by the Research Directorate:
In the former [Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia] (SFRY) two documents were in use specifying the ethnicity of a person. Those were the birth certificate and employment booklet (containing records on employment). The ethnicity of a person was denoted depending on the belonging to a particular ethnic group as per statement of the person. For example, it could be denoted as Yugoslav, Serb, Croat, Hungarian, Macedonian, Muslim, etc. There were no regulations governing the entry on the question of ethnicity as it [was] deemed as a personal intimate feeling of belonging to a particular ethnic group. This, however, should not be confused with citizenship (nationality). The citizenship was only SFRY (... and a secondary citizenship of the one of the six Yugoslav republics only for internal use).
After [the] disintegration of SFRY, one of the [successor states], the FRY (Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, a federation of the two republics – Serbia and Montenegro), abandoned the practice to have an entry on ethnicity in the employment booklet and continued to use ... the birth certificate as the only document having an information on ethnicity of the individual.
Naturally, [since] the birth certificate is the document issued at the time of birth, a statement on ethnicity is initially given by the parents. Notification of ethnicity can therefore be changed with a simple statement to the registrar (at the municipal office in charge for birth certificates registry) – at any time. An individual or parents for [the] under aged, may request to have this entry – empty or to change the record as many times as they want.
Population census would refer to individuals who would not specify ethnicity as undecided (UN 18 Aug. 2003).
In addition, according to a 2000 report, Montenegrins had their passports marked to indicate their Montenegrin citizenship (ATA 24 Feb. 2000). A 2002 Amnesty International report referring to a 1993 case of abduction and murder noted that the perpetrators could "deduce the nationality of most of the [train] passengers" by looking at their identity papers (12 Sept. 2002).
For information pertaining to identity documents issued by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), including the identity cards, drivers' licenses, Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC) identity cards and foreign travel documents, please consult YUG39772.E of 3 September 2002.
This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.
References
Albanian Telegraphic Agency (ATA) [Tirana, in Albanian]. 24 February 2000. "Foreign Ministry Explains New Border Crossing Significance." (Dialog)
Amnesty International (AI). 12 September 2002. "FRY: War Crimes Verdict in Montenegro – Amnesty International Calls for All Those Responsible for Strpci Abductions and Murders to Be Brought to Justice." (Press Release, EUR 70/009/2002/Dialog)
United Nations (UN). 18 August 2003. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Belgrade Office. Correspondence with an assistant protection officer.
United States (US). 22 July 2002. Department of State, Bureau of Consular Affairs. "Visa Reciprocity and Country Documents Finder: Yugoslavia, Federal Republic of".
Additional Sources Consulted
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees office in Ottawa was also contacted for this Response
Internet sites, including:
Adjudicative Desk Reference (DOS)
AIM Press
Global Survey of Group Classification on National ID Cards
International Crisis Group
Privacy International
Travel Documents
UNMIK Online
