43 Social welfare homes should discontinue the practice of placing users in solitary confinement. It is necessary to pass regulations that would govern the conditions and procedure for restricting the freedom of movement and using physical restraints on users in social welfare homes. Measures should be put in place to provide a sufficient number of staff (physicians, pedagogues and caregivers) in social welfare homes. It is necessary to ensure that children are placed separately from adults at social welfare homes. The number of users placed in social welfare homes should not exceed the maximum capacity set by the law. 6.6. Treatment of refugees/migrants In the course of 2014, the NPM focused on the position of asylum-seekers in the Republic of Serbia. In this context, the NPM had intensive cooperation with the UNHCR Office and the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights. The Protector of Citizens, acting in the capacity of the National Preventive Mechanism, issued 27 recommendations119 to the Ministry of Interior and the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration in February 2014 in connection with improvements in the treatment of irregular migrants/asylum seekers in the Republic of Serbia. In the course of 2014, the NPM monitored compliance with these recommendations through visits to relevant authorities and institutions.120 The NPM issued 30 reports121 to the visited institutions which took stock of the current level of compliance of the competent authorities with the recommendations, followed by a special report122 which summed up the findings regarding compliance with the recommendations issued by the NPM. According to the figures of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2014 there were 23,429 foreign nationals who illegally entered the territory of the Republic of Serbia. Of them, 16,730 expressed intent to seek asylum and 1350 of those have been registered, 460 have been issued with identity cards and 388 have applied for asylum. Asylum was granted to only one person, while five persons received subsidiary protection. The huge discrepancy between the number of persons who expressed intent to seek asylum and the number of persons who actually applied for asylum, especially those who took part in proceedings pursuant to asylum applications, shows their aim never was to seek asylum in the first place; instead, they looked for opportunities to be given shelter at asylum centres and to legalise their stay in the Republic of Serbia until they have made arrangements to move on across the border to Western European Countries. Recommendation No. 75-6/14 available at http://www.ombudsman.rs/index.php/lang-sr/2012-02-07-14-0333/3190-2014-02-14-08-47-05. 120 A total of 41 institutions were visited (police administrations/stations, regional border police centres, centres for accommodation of asylum-seekers, penal institutions, juvenile correctional facilities and the Shelter for Foreigners in Padinska Skela). 121 Reports of visits available at http://ombudsman.npm.rs/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=89&Itemid=82& lang=sr. 122 Report available at http://www.zastitnik.rs/index.php/lang-sr/izvestaji/posebnii-izvestaji/3754-2015-03-24-1207-14. 119