Sociodemographic characteristics of the elderly forced migrants in Serbia
Authors: Lukic Vesna 
Published: February 2016

In the context of the needs and rights of older migrants, migration history
is particularly important where the elderly forced migrants are twice as
vulnerable. Bearing in mind the intense process of population aging in Serbia
which holds the attention of scientists and experts, and the large number of
refugees who immigrated in the 90-ies from the former Yugoslav republics,
selected sociodemographic structures of the elderly forced migrants in Serbia
were analyzed as well as the relevant legal and strategic framework. The aim
was to contribute to increasing knowledge of the demographic challenges of
this subpopulation of forced migrants, as well as the differences relative to
the domicile aging population. The data used in this study included a
contingent of forced migrants aged 65 and over, on the basis of additionally
processed Census data from 2011, based on questions about the place of birth
of the person, year of arrival, the country in which the person lived and the
reasons for migration. Hence, the category which is the subject of research,
is not defined on the basis of formal refugee status. A comparison of
selected sociodemographic characteristics was made in relation to the
domicile population, which in the paper means the population of Serbia
without forced migrants. The research results indicate that older forced
migrants in Serbia have characteristics of the general population of older
people in Serbia. Their age gender and marital structures are relatively
similar. Most older women are widows who are heads of households, while a
significant number are persons with disabilities as well. However, the
process of aging of the elderly, present within the local population has not
affected forced migrants yet, so this population is to some extent more
vital. Data on the economic activity of the elderly forced migrants in Serbia
point out to the lack of income as the main problem they are faced with.
Older forced migrants are economically active to a lesser extent compared to
the domicile elderly population, while the major differences between the two
subgroups of the population are observed among the economically inactive
persons. There is a noticeable smaller share of pensioners and a
significantly higher share of persons who perform only housework in their
households of elderly forced migrants than for the domicile aging population,
largely owing to the female population. This can be explained by the lower
level of female employment of forced migrants in countries of origin but
could also result from the circumstances of exile. Single person elderly
households of forced migrants are twice as vulnerable in economic terms than
the domicile one, which confirms the high dependence of these groups of older
migrants on financial aid. The lack of income of one part of the elderly
forced migrants is a consequence of the unresolved issue of pension payments
from Croatia, as most of the older forced migrants in Serbia are people from
that former republic of Yugoslavia. The older forced migrants in Serbia from
the former Yugoslav republics are relatively few in number, but a sensitive
population that has legally integrated into the community since 2001 and is
facing the same challenges as the local elderly population. Due to the
circumstances of refugeeism in Serbia, these persons, as opposed to older
migrants in other countries, have no linguistic or cultural barriers that
could potentially hinder their integration within society but also within the
social welfare and health care. However, although they have all legal rights
as the local population, refugeeism gives a specific earmark to the social
aspects of aging of these persons, and hinders their integration into
economic and social life.