58 political opinion137, especially if there is a risk he/she would be subject to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the territory where he/she should be deported, shall be treated in accordance with the Law on Asylum. A foreigner who expresses intent to seek asylum in the Republic of Serbia shall be registered and, if necessary, searched for identity documents, after which he/she shall be issued a certificate of intent to seek asylum. The certificate shall contain a photograph and other biometric data. A foreigner who expresses intent to seek asylum shall be sent to an Asylum Centre138 (“Centre”) and instructed to report to an authorised officer of the Centre or the Asylum Office within 72 hours; alternatively, if the conditions set out in the Law on Asylum are met, he/she shall be escorted to the Centre by police officers without delay. Asylum Centres should be established and organised with the sole aim of ensuring an efficient asylum-seeking process. The existing number of available places at the Asylum Centres should be increased to enable accommodation and provision of various forms of care to all foreign nationals who referred or escorted to the Centres under the Law on Asylum, for which purpose the required amount of funds shall be allocated from the budget of the Republic of Serbia. A foreign national referred or escorted to the Centre shall be provided with accommodation and support in accordance with the applicable regulations and standards, including in particular provision of appropriate accommodation, meals, hygiene, communication in a language he/she can understand, provision of health care and social support, means to satisfy his/her cultural and religious needs etc. Underage foreign nationals shall be placed at the Centre together with their parents, except where the guardianship authority in charge considers that other placement arrangements would be more beneficial for the child. Authorised officers of the Centre shall abolish the practice of granting asylum-seekers leaves of absence outside of the Centre. The Centres shall abolish the practice of “keeping” rooms or beds for foreigners who leave their premises for any reason. Any beds vacated by their previous occupants shall be allocated without delay to newly-received foreign nationals referred or escorted to the Centre. The Police Directorate of the Ministry of Interior shall form an Asylum Office as an independent organisational unit outside of the Border Police Administration, provide a sufficient number of authorised officers, give them appropriate training and provide them with the resources they need in their work. The Asylum Office shall introduce daily duty shifts of its authorised officers at each Centre. An authorised officer of the Asylum Office shall register a foreigner who expressed intent to seek asylum immediately upon admission at the Centre in accordance with the Law on Asylum, after which the foreign national shall be issued an identity card and the officer shall examine, on a Except in cases when there is reasonable suspicion that a foreigner might pose a security threat for the Republic of Serbia or if he/she has been convicted of a felony by a valid and enforceable judgement, which makes him/her a threat to public order. 138 The Centre to which an asylum-seeker will be referred or escorted to will be determined jointly by the Asylum Office and the Commissariat for Refugees and Migrations. 137

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