Erased in life and death: intersecting injustices faced by people on the move in Serbia: Report summary 1/7

Our full report ‘Erased in life and death: intersecting injustices faced by people on the move in Serbia’ explores the systemic neglect, institutional silence, and structural violence surrounding the deaths of people on the move in Serbia. It is not a new intervention, nor a pioneering effort. Rather, it builds on the longstanding work of civil society organisations, cemetery workers, communities of faith, journalists, researchers, and families who have long documented, buried, and remembered the dead. Our aim is to contribute capacity, coordination, visibility, and documentation to efforts already underway.

Below, the first of six sections to be released ahead of publication of the full report in July offers an overview of our initial findings and the realities of death on the move in Serbia. 

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Formidable Trust: The plan for 2025

Frontline humanitarian services and rights-based advocacy across Europe are eroding in real time. The deeper crisis is not vanishing funding - it is the growing needs, isolated responses, and the breakdown of the civic scaffolding that has held this movement together until now. Our response is Strategic Mutualism.

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Collective Aid
Lines that Hurt: A new monthly advocacy report

Over the past two months,  Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia have witnessed a deeply troubling surge in violence targeting people on the move.This alarming escalation has claimed the lives of as many as nine individuals* in Serbia and two in Bosnia-Herzegovina, with others severely injured. 

The border regime, engineered by nation-states and legitimised by European institutions in defence of  “Fortress Europe”, has, paradoxically, no limits when it comes to inflicting pain and further violence. National borders are not simply lines on a map. They are active tools of violence used to target certain social groups in order to reproduce an imperialist and colonial social system. And as such, their reach goes far beyond the separation of two neighbouring states. The people who have lost their lives at the European Union’s geographical and ideological margins embody the suffering, dehumanisation and arbitrary fates endured by people on the move. Physically and symbolically, as the impact of their deaths reverberates far beyond the borders where they occurred, they encapsulate the grief and trauma carried by loved ones thousands of kilometres away.


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‘Europe Day’ through a broken mirror: Fortress walls and institutional complicity

On May 9, the EU dresses itself in blue and gold, lighting up its monuments to celebrate a shared vision of unity, peace, and prosperity. Simultaneously, across the continent of Europe, fences are being fortified and policies tightened in order to deny these ideals to people on the move at its internal and external borders. 

As the Union evolves, what is the price of solidarity which is solidified by the exclusion of the ‘others’ condemned to violence and death at its borders?

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Collective Aid
Deportation Nation: The impact of Trump’s ‘America First’ policies on the lives of people on the move

Since his inauguration in January, President Trump has enforced deportation raids, sent US Marines to construct a ‘fortified’ border wall extension in San Diego, and terminated the existing Customs and Border Protection (CBP) asylum scheduling system, cancelling all existing appointments, effectively making it impossible for people on the move to apply for asylum in the United States (US).

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Collective Aid
Surveilled and Isolated: How European authorities are turning essential devices into targets

For people on the move, staying updated on news from home can be just as important as knowing what is happening around them; a phone helps people to stay in touch with their family and friends, offering comfort against feelings of isolation and loneliness while supporting psychological well-being.They can also help to gather evidence, documenting illegal pushbacks, and other violence exerted against them.Most importantly, phones can save lives. Yet, despite the vital role phones play, authorities often fail to recognise - or deliberately ignore - their importance. We have heard, worryingly, numerous accounts of Serbian, Croatian and Bulgarian police smashing or confiscating devices. Our Advocacy and Communications Officer in Sarajevo looks further into the issue…

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What is Caporalato and how can it affect people on the move?

Caporalato is an Italian term that refers to illegal labour intermediation, commonly known as the ”gangmaster system” in English. It involves the recruitment of largely workers from migrant backgrounds to perform various types of labour, predominantly in agriculture.


Our Communications and Media volunteer Giovanna Bressan explains more about the phenomenon and what it means for people on the move.

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Collective Aid
New publication: Bulgaria Needs Asessment: Briefing Note

Today, we release a Briefing Note on our Bulgarian Needs Assessment, conducted at the end of January 2025.

It presents key findings from the assessment, background information, and country context, concluding with four recommendations to improve the lives of people on the move.  It underscores Bulgaria’s failure to uphold its obligations concerning people’s fundamental rights, the critical need for advocacy to challenge these abuses, and the broader implications of Europe’s restrictive migration policies, which continue to prioritise deterrence over the safety and well-being of people on the move.

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Collective Aid
Mass rejections, degrading treatment and inhumane living conditions: solidarity with protesters at Harmanli camp (Bulgaria)

People living in Bulgaria’s biggest asylum centre in Harmanli, a town close to the border with Turkey, began a protest this Monday (January 20) against the mass rejection of Syrian asylum claims, and as part of a wider call to the Bulgarian and European authorities to take urgent action against the hostile and degrading policies and conditions which govern their lives.

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Collective Aid
Leaving X: A statement

In the last couple months, the team at Collective Aid have been discussing and reflecting upon our use of X, formerly known as Twitter, as an organisation. As we start 2025, we are in unanimous agreement that our continued presence would not just compromise our work, but also our core values. Our mission is to advocate for displaced people with compassionate and fact-based advocacy. It is no longer possible to operate in this capacity in the environment that Elon Musk has curated with X. For this reason we have decided to stop posting and engaging on the platform with immediate effect. 

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Hidden Homelessness: People on the move faced with Athens’ harsh reality

Walking on the streets of Athens from Victoria Square towards Ameriki’s Square, the signs of transformation become evident. The once homogeneously Greek neighbourhoods have given way to a mosaic of languages, cultures, and faces.  Shops owned by people from across the world and NGO spaces for people on the move paint the picture of the area’s evolving demographic landscape. Amidst this change, homelessness emerges as a growing and complex phenomenon.

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Collective Aid
Pausing our operations in France

Dear Friends and Supporters,

I am writing to share an important update regarding the Collective Aid France Programme.

After much thoughtful deliberation and consultation with our board of trustees, partners, and team, we have made the difficult decision to close our Calais project and pause our operations in France. This transition will include handing over our current operations, including NFI distribution, to our trusted partners who will remain operating on the ground.

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Collective Aid