Interview with Slavica Đukić Dejanović - Serbia’s Minister without portfolio for demography and population policy

The Institute of Social Sciences is a partner in the YOUMIG project, which focuses on youth migration in the Danube region. Ms Đukić Dejanović, since you have often highlighted the effects of youth emigration on Serbia’s development and the role of local governments in population policy, we have a few questions relevant to this topic. What are your thoughts on the continued intense youth emigration from Serbia?

S.D-D.: Migration is clearly an inherent part of the modern world and one of the features of present-day civilisation. It should be accepted as such, and we should not entertain the illusion that it could be stopped. However, it can be managed through responsible policies. The migration of young, educated people is a fact of life in our country; this is an issue we have brought into the spotlight and one that calls for our special attention. The state provides a high quality of education and knowledge to young people, and after graduation they want jobs with adequate financial rewards. Efforts to improve the country’s political and economic stability and enhance the living conditions will surely result in a decreasing number of emigrants. First, we need to ensure that the number of emigrating people with this profile does not increase, then plan to subsequently slow down the emigration precipitated by the said reasons.

Could you tell us something about the ongoing survey of students’ attitudes to leaving the country that you are administering?

We have undertaken a survey, titled Student Migrations[*], among the students of accredited higher education institutions in Serbia. The target is to include 25,000 students, and so far we have collected about 10,000 responses. The idea is to gain a clearer insight into young people’s opinions about migration and to identify the reasons and attitudes that motivate them to leave, or to stay. Additionally, we wish to hear their suggestions for actions that may lead to fewer people deciding to migrate.

How do you see the role of local governments in the context of migration: monitoring, maintaining contacts with those who left, facilitating integration and reintegration, and so forth?

Thus far local government units have not had adequate staff capacities to monitor how young people adapt to new environments and how their migration influences their professional and personal lives. Demographic councils or officers responsible for migration-related issues in local government units are instructed to provide the infrastructure and staff for such activities. Providing such services is also desirable owing to the fact that emigrating young people often maintain very strong ties with their places of origin – the places to which, in our view, they might also decide to return. I believe that we need to devise mechanisms for a special form of migration management, to allow us to identify not only the reasons for leaving, but also the reasons why youth may want to come back.

Is migration incorporated into policy dealing with Serbia’s demographic development? If it is, how?

The revised Birth Promotion Strategy is currently in its adoption phase. This policy framework has been updated, among other things, with references to the significance of the migration component and migration management for Serbia’s demographic development.

Interview by ISS YOUMIG team

[*] Research results are expected  to be published in the second half of 2018.