Serbia sends the army to its border with Croatia to ‘secure’ three camps holding 1,500 migrants trying to reach the EU amid claims of ‘harassment’ against local people
- Serbian Defence Ministry deployed army to a town near the border with Croatia
- Told to ‘secure’ three migrant camps housing some 1,500 people near Sid
- President Vucic claimed it was to protect locals from alleged harassment and robberies committed by the migrants
Serbia has sent its army to a town near the border with Croatia where hundreds of migrants and refugees remain stranded in hopes of reaching the European Union.
The Defence Ministry said today that President Aleksandar Vucic ordered the troop deployment to ‘secure’ three migrant camps near the western town of Sid that are housing some 1,500 people, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Vucic claimed the increase in security presence was to protect the local population from alleged harassment and robberies committed by the migrants.
Serbia has sent its army to a town near the border with Croatia where hundreds of migrants remain stranded in hopes of reaching the European Union
He told TV Prva that after a state of emergency imposed to fight the coronavirus spread in Serbia was lifted earlier this month, the migrants started venturing outside their camps, committing ‘petty crimes and illegal entries into houses.’
‘Because of that people are feeling unsafe,’ Vucic said.
There is increased popular resentment toward the migrants and frequent unsanctioned protests by far-right groups are held in front of the camps.
There are an estimated 4,000 migrants stranded in Serbia, one of the main transit routes through the Balkans for people fleeing wars and poverty.
President Aleksandar Vucic ordered the troop deployment to ‘secure’ three migrant camps near the western town of Sid that are housing some 1,500 people, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan
There is increased popular resentment toward the migrants and frequent unsanctioned protests by far-right groups are held in front of the camps
Greece, a country that has struggled to manage large numbers of migrants crossing its borders, took steps Saturday to reunite minors with their families.
Twenty-three minors, most of them from Afghanistan, left Athens on Saturday for Switzerland, where they will be eventually reunited with their families, Greek authorities said.
Deputy Migration and Asylum Minister Giorgos Koumoutsakos said 508 asylum applicants will soon depart Greece.
Charities and other organisations that assist refugees were stopped from entering reception centres in Serbia due to the Covid-19-related ban on movement in and out of the camps related to the.
The vulnerable groups were left in a state of forced isolation, with support groups warning that it is also leading to a lack of legal protection and food and medical assistance.
He told TV Prva that after a state of emergency imposed to fight the coronavirus spread in Serbia was lifted earlier this month, the migrants started venturing outside their camps, committing ‘petty crimes and illegal entries into houses
Serbia imposed a state of quarantine on all its reception centres on March 17.
Since then, people have not been allowed out of the centres unless it is to seek medical care, or with special permission. The ban works both ways, so no staff from rights organisation can enter the facilities either.
It has left the migrants and asylum-seekers inside without support, help or information, the director of the Belgrade-based NGO Asylum Protection Center, Rados Djurovic, said.
‘Since the crisis began, for almost a month, access has been denied to anyone providing psychological, legal or other assistance, so they have no activities and are locked in the camps,’ Djurovic told BIRN.