The Research Directorate found very few references to Nigerians or other persons from Africa living in Serbia and Montenegro among the sources consulted. Two reports made passing mention of Africans in the contexts of human trafficking and the illegal entry of small groups or individuals into Serbia and Montenegro (Vecernje Novosti 10 July 2003; ibid. 31 July 2003). According to Serbian authorities, the country was once a significant step along a human smuggling transit route that connects South Eastern Europe to the European Union, although this has diminished over recent years (ibid.).

One report that specifically referred to Nigerians in Serbia and Montenegro detailed a 1999 case in which Romanian authorities found a group of people adrift on the Danube (AFP 2 Apr. 1999). The group, which included five Nigerians, claimed that they had been expelled from then-Yugoslavia because their spouses were of ethnic Albanian origin (ibid.). The Research Directorate found no further information on this topic among the sources consulted.

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.

Agence France Presse [Paris]. 2 April 1999. "26 People Set Adrift on Danube by Serbs." (FBIS-EEU-1999-0401 5 Apr. 1999/Dialog)

Vecernje Novosti [Belgrade, in Serbian]. 31 July 2003. "Serbian Police Report Drop in Illegal Border Crossings." (FBIS-EEU-2003-0731 1 Aug. 2003/Dialog)

_____. 10 July 2003. "Serbia: Local Police Chief Claims Human Trafficking Near 'Nonexistent.'" (FBIS-EEU-2003-0711 13 July 2003/Dialog)

Internet sites, including:

Amnesty International, Council of Europe, ECRE, European Country of Origin Information Network, Humantrafficking.org, IOM, Minority Rights Group International (MRG), Serbia Times, Trafficking in Persons Report 2003, UNHCR, United Nations Trafficking in Human Beings Programme, USCR World Refugee Survey 2003, World Refugee, World News Connection