Her Smile Silenced: Life and Loss in Serbia’s Camps
She was someone we knew. Someone we saw regularly at distributions, always arriving with a big smile despite the unimaginable hardships of camp life. On the 14th of August, 2025, that smile was silenced when a fire broke out in the Obrenovac asylum center.
On that night, she was trapped in a room with her children, and while her husband and kids escaped, she suffered second-degree burns over more than half of her body. After a month in the hospital, fighting for her life, she passed away yesterday (2025, September 22). Her death is not just - it is a loss felt by our team, who had come to know her smile, her warmth, and the humanity she brought into a system designed to strip both away.
The fire was unexpected as the Obrenovac camp had just undergone renovations, claiming to improve the conditions. Residents were in complete shock, and many expressed their fear and feelings of unsafety to our team. Some were temporarily relocated to other parts of the camp, but the sense of safety remained fragile. Residents said the living conditions in Obrenovac, coupled with the fire, make it completely unsustainable and a desperate place to stay in. The overcrowded, unsanitary, and under-resourced conditions make even daily life very desperate for residents, as documented in the BVMN July monthly report. The report highlights persistent issues such as a lack of cooking facilities, extreme heat in rooms, poor air quality, language barriers with medical staff, limited access to education, delays in interviews, and a lack of financial support to which they are entitled.. For residents, the fire was not an isolated incident, but a reminder about the precarity and hardship that have defined life in the camp for years.
However, even in these uncertain moments and conditions, other camp residents showed up in solidarity and support for the woman who had been victims of the fire. Seven women from the camp came forward and volunteered to donate skin to help their injured friend recover. Three of them were compatible and therefore able to offer help. They have been scared, part of the same fire and trapped in the same systems of neglect, yet giving what little they had - their own skin - they demonstrated the humanity and courage that the system surrounding them so utterly lacks. The solidarity even extends to other women and families in the camp, who are now taking care of the woman’s children.
Now that the woman has passed away, these acts of generosity stand as a tribute to her life and the bonds she helped forge in the camp.
Unanswered questions, misinformation, and no transparency around the fire
As Vreme confirms in their article, the Obrenovac camp had just undergone renovations before the fire. This fact alone raises immediate and pressing questions: how could a newly renovated facility so quickly become the site of such an unsafe event?
Residents say that despite the renovation, there were no fire detectors that went off during the fire to warn people that night, which indicates that there were no fire safety standards in place.
However, it was not only the lack of safety protocols that concerned residents, but also the silence that followed the fire, which they found most disturbing. They explained that no official explanation was provided, and no transparent investigation was shared with the camp residents. Instead, the Commissariat for Refugees offered a simplified explanation, blaming the fire on fans. In response, all fans were confiscated from residents, despite the searing summer heat, leaving children and adults struggling to sleep in stifling rooms that regularly reach unbearable temperatures. Adding to this, it is impossible to open windows at night due to heavy pollution from a nearby factory, which is especially severe during cooler temperatures, making the living conditions in the camp even more unbearable.
Camp residents even describe piecing together scraps of information like a “puzzle.” This highlights how unsafe they felt, not just physically, but because of the lack of clear information and communication. The uncertainty surrounding the fire left residents highly stressed and emotionally fragile in the weeks that followed. Many described feeling as though they“cannot take any more,” explaining that the constant uncertainty about the fire, combined with the already unbearable conditions of the camp, was too much.
Unanswered questions, misinformation, and the complete lack of transparency around the fire reveal not only negligence but a deliberate system of silence that leaves people on the move unsafe, unheard, and invisible.
Deaths and Neglect in Sjenica camp
Obrenovac reveals the dangers of unsafe infrastructure and official silence, and Sjenica camp further exposes the deadly consequences of neglect and unsuitable conditions. This year alone, at least four people have passed away in the camp under circumstances that residents and NNK describe as entirely preventable. In their open letter to the European Commission, NNK shares details about these four incidents:
In December 2024, a 34-year-old resident of Sjenica camp, known as “Sissi,” passed away after suffering from a prolonged illness. Despite repeated warnings from other residents about his deteriorating condition, he received no medical attention.
In February 2025, a Moroccan man lost his life after being denied entry to the camp entirely, leaving him without shelter or care.
In May, Moustafa, a young man in his mid-twenties, died after showing clear signs of severe illness and malnutrition. His fellow residents raised concerns about his condition, but no intervention was provided.
Finally, in July, Ali - a long-term resident of the camp - passed away while struggling with both physical and mental health issues. Instead of receiving support, he was left isolated, ultimately leading to his death.
Residents reveal an unsuitable picture of the medical system inside the camp. They describe a doctor who dismisses emergencies, hands out medication without explanation, and sometimes disappears entirely for stretches of time. They speak of not knowing what medicine they are given, of being denied access to care at critical moments.
Taken together, the fire in Obrenovac and the preventable deaths in Sjenica show a disturbing pattern of systemic neglect in Serbia’s asylum centers. Unsafe infrastructure, insufficient oversight, and a lack of basic safety measures leave residents physically vulnerable, while inadequate medical care, poor communication, and the withholding of essential information compound the risk to their lives. These incidents are not isolated accidents but symptoms of a broader system that prioritizes containment and control over human dignity and well-being. Residents are left exposed to danger, uncertainty, and silence, while the structures around them shield those responsible from accountability.
The Closure of Krnjača and Forced Transfers
The pattern extends beyond neglect and into deliberate dislocation. In June, the Krnjača camp near Belgrade was closed without any transparent explanation. In our conversation, it was shared with our team that residents were given little notice and were limited to bringing only two bags of belongings.
Families who had managed to build fragile networks of support within the camp were separated. Many were moved to Obrenovac or Sjenica, often against their wishes. Those relocated to Sjenica found themselves far from support systems like Collective Aid services.
The closure and transfers reveal the way people on the move are treated not as individuals, but only seen as logistical burdens by the Serbian state.
The Bigger Picture: Life and Loss in Serbia’s Camps
The fire in Obrenovac, the preventable deaths in Sjenica, and the forced dislocation from Krnjača reveal the real human costs of Serbia’s camps. Each reflects a different face of the same systemic neglect: in Obrenovac, a newly renovated camp became the site of a devastating fire resulting in a loss of a woman's life, and residents stripped of even basic safety measures like fans; in Sjenica, four people died in less than a year from preventable causes, denied timely medical care and left without dignity in their final moments; and in Krnjača, people were uprooted with little warning, forced to abandon what little stability they had managed to build, and transferred against their will.
Together, these events show how unsafe infrastructure, inadequate medical care, and arbitrary dislocation continue to harm people on the move in Serbia’s camps. They are not isolated accidents, but the direct result of policies and practices that place control and containment above human life. And yet, even in these harshest conditions, residents continue to demonstrate extraordinary courage and solidarity. Acts like the women who donated skin to help their friend recover from the fire remind us that while the camps may isolate and neglect, the bonds forged within them prove that humanity and mutual aid persist, even where systems fail.
Yesterday, a woman lost her life - a death that never should have happened. She leaves behind two children, a husband, and countless friends whose lives she touched with her warmth and her smile. Monday was a tragedy and a day of grief for many people. Our deepest condolences go to her family and to her children, who must now grow up without their mother.
Her death was not an accident. It is the direct result of systemic neglect and the Serbian state’s failure to ensure even the most basic standards of safety in its camps. It is unacceptable, and it is unforgivable. This pattern of silence, disregard, and negligence has already cost too many lives. It must end now - before more are taken.
Yesterday, a precious life was cut short. She will be remembered, and her memory will strengthen our fight for justice. May she rest in peace.
Words by Sofie Rosenblad and Anna Gruber