The migrants who reside in reception center in Obrenovac, a municipality in the City of Belgrade, would be allowed to go out from it only with the appropriate permits, minister Aleksandar Vulin announced today. According to Radio-television of Serbia (RTS), Vulin refereed to “Incident, when the group of migrants attacked a woman in Obrenovac”, saying that tougher checks have been introduced; he said “adequate restrictions on migrants movement were applied to improve the security of both migrants and local population”. The number of deployed policemen has been increased while “the situation” in the reception center is “calm”, according to RTS. “The migrants would be allowed to leave the center and come back at a defined time only with adequate permits”, Vulin said. “Of course, they should get legitimation that could be accepted also by other institutions”, he went on. Vulin acknowledged that, since this morning, a special bus started to work. Namely, it will directly transfer migrants from Obrenovac reception center to Belgrade reception center “without meddling with the local population”, the minister said.
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ARD: Das Geschäft mit den Schleppern boomt
Die Flüchtlinge in den Baracken sind gut sichtbar von einem der Bahnsteige des Belgrader Bahnhofs. Trotzdem waren sie bis vor wenigen Wochen ein blinder Fleck für die serbische Bevölkerung. „Niemand wusste von diesem Ort“, erzählt Goran. „Ich kam nach Hause nach Novi Sad und erzählte von meiner Arbeit und den 2.000 Menschen, die hier leben. Aber niemand zuhause wusste davon, es war nicht in den Nachrichten“, erklärte er. Die Medien seien von der Regierung gesteuert, die wenig Aufmerksamkeit auf das Thema lenken wollte, ist er überzeugt. Doch seit wenigen Wochen tummeln sich internationale Fernsehteams um die Flüchtlinge.
SZ: Zwischen Müll und bröckelnden Mauern
Lange war Serbien für Flüchtende nur ein Durchgangsland. Doch die Zahl der Gestrandeten steigt, die Sorge vor einem Slum der Heimatlosen mitten in Europa wächst.
Interview with UNHCR on conditions of migrants in Serbia
Currently, there are some 7,300 refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in the country. Of them, over 6,200 (85%) are accommodated in 17 government centres and the rest are still sleeping rough in the Belgrade city centre. Some 49% are from Afghanistan, 19% from Iraq, 10% each from Syria and Pakistan, 5% from Iran and 7% from other countries. 46% are children, 39% adult men and 15% adult women.
The authorities, supported by UNHCR and partners, arranged additional temporary emergency shelter by refurbishing a facility in Obrenovac near Belgrade, for voluntary relocation of refugees and migrants from Belgrade city centre. In support of the authorities’ efforts to put the facility into use as quickly as possible, UNHCR contributed all new clothing, blankets, bed sets and hygiene kits, cleaning services, and other items. To date, some 300 men and boys were moved from the city centre to Obrenovac. The authorities, UNHCR and partners continue working towards further expansion of shelter capacities there and to ensure that all necessary protection and other services, particularly to support the unaccompanied minors, will be provided to all current and future residents of the new centre.
In the North, the authorities offered asylum seekers near the border with Hungary to move to the Transit Centre in Subotica. As a result only around 20 asylum seekers remained outside the “transit zone” in Horgos and “transit zone” of Kelebija, waiting admission to Hungary.
According to the Ministry of Interior, 12,821 persons registered their intent to seek asylum in Serbia in 2016 while 574 submitted an official asylum application. In 2016, the authorities granted refugee status to 19 and subsidiary protection to 23 persons. 40 asylum applications were rejected.
Pushed back to Serbian winter: 1,600 cases of alleged push-backs in last two months
Save the Children released a statement this week showing that 1,600 cases of push backs from Hungary and Croatia to Serbia have taken place during the last two months. Push backs to Serbia have previously been reported by the Asylum Information Database (AIDA) and Human Rights Watch, and are regularly recorded by UNHCR.
ARD: Die Balkanroute damals und heute? – Situation der Flüchtlinge in Südosteuropa
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IL4FnZFW4Ds
Refugee winter crisis: Serbia accused of illegal mass deportations
Humanitarian organisations have accused Serbia of forcing hundreds of refugees back towards Macedonia and Bulgaria, refusing them help in freezing temperatures and breaking international law. Nikola Kovacevic, of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights, said his group had multiple complaints of so-called “pushback” campaigns against refugees, many of whom are from Syria and Iraq, to get them out of Serbia. Complainants say they have been bussed to the border, had their papers confiscated and left in sub-zero temperatures, forcing them to cross into neighbouring countries to find help. One Syrian family stated that their official asylum seeker papers were torn up in their faces as they were ushered towards the border. Police and the army have been accused of complicity, but Kovacevic said it was difficult to know exactly who was involved in specific incidents as border forces are a combination of army and police.”Our colleagues on the field received about 20 complaints from refugees about illegal mass deportations. The assessment is that a total of 700-1,000 refugees were illegally deported to Macedonia and Bulgaria since September,” he told Middle East Eye.
Influx of refugees leaves Belgrade at risk of becoming ‘new Calais’
A freezing and squalid Belgrade railway depot where up to 2,000 people are seeking shelter from the bitter Serbian winter risks becoming a “new Calais” for refugees and migrants abandoned by European authorities, the humanitarian group Médecins Sans Frontières has warned.Children as young as eight are struggling to survive temperatures that have plunged to -16C this week, with no running water or sanitation.
ARD: Balkanroute – Flüchtlinge in der Sackgasse
Seit Einführung strengerer Grenzkontrollen zu Bulgarien und Mazedonien durch gemischte Militär- und Polizeiteams Ende Juli konnte man laut Behördenangaben gut 15.800 Personen stoppen. Seit Kurzem beteiligen sich auch Sicherheitskräfte aus Ungarn, der Slowakei und Tschechien an diesen gemischten Teams. Die jüngste Drohung des türkischen Präsidenten Recep Tayyip Erdogan über eine mögliche erneute Öffnung der Grenzübergänge für Flüchtlinge wird auch in Belgrad aufmerksam verfolgt. Serbien habe einen „Plan B“ parat, sollte es dazu kommen, berichtete die Tageszeitung „Vecernje novosti“ unter Berufung auf Regierungskreise. Dem Blatt zufolge dürfte in einem solchen Fall erneut der von Regierungschef Aleksandar Vucic wiederholt abgelehnte Zaunbau an den südlichen Grenzen Serbiens in Erwägung gezogen werden. „Wir würden unsere Grenze wirkungsvoll schützen“, wurde Aleksandar Vulin, der für die Flüchtlingskrise zuständige Minister für Arbeits-und Sozialfragen zitiert.Vulin wollte sich zu den Details nicht äußern. In Serbien wird die Flüchtlingszahl von den Behörden derzeit auf etwa 7.000 geschätzt. Rund 5.200 Personen sind landesweit in mehreren Aufnahmezentren untergebracht, der Rest lebt unter freiem Himmel meist im Stadtzentrum Belgrads. Wir konnten in Belgrad einen Flüchtling aus Afghanistan der seit mehreren Monaten festsitzt mit der Kamera begleiten:
HRW: Asylum Seekers Left in the Cold
Temperatures in Hungary and Serbia have dropped to minus 20 degrees centigrade at night. Yet nearly 2,000 asylum seekers and migrants are sleeping rough in Belgrade, in front of Hungary’s “transit zones” on the Serbian border, or inside a tattered government-run tent camp in Hungary without enough aid.