Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM
Human Rights House
Kneza Milosa 4, 11103 Belgrade, Serbia
Project Progress and Financial Report – No 5.
Date of the visit: 15/01/2016
Place of the visit: One stop centre – Adaševci (Šid), Republic of Serbia
Project: “Aid to refugees and migrants – from legal aid to conditions assessment”
Persons responsible for reporting: Ana Janković Jovanović and Momčilo Živadinović
Project Progress
General impressions:
On January 15th 2016 a team consisting of Momcilo Zivadinovic and Ana J. Jovanovic, along with an interpreter for Arabic, visited the Adasevci shelter for refugees and migrants in Sid.
At the time of our visit the center was also host to Alaksandar Vulin, minister of labor in the Government of Serbia, Michel Sen Lot, UNICEF representative, Michael Devenport, chief of the EU delegation in Serbia, as well as Hristos Stilijanides, EU commissioner for humanitarian aid and management of emergency situations, on the occasion of the opening of the new mother-child section at the shelter, where infants can be changed and fed which also features a games room for the children of the refugees/migrants.
A total of two busses transporting migrants/refugees were on site at the time of our visit, unlike the last time when the number of migrants/refugees staying at the center was much greater. The living conditions in the center itself have been substantially improved, most notably with regards to hygiene. The restroom located in the center which was previously only available to authorized personnel from the Commission is now open for all users. Based on the information we received migrants/refugees are being provided with food, as much clothes and footwear as stores allow, have internet access and sockets where they can recharge their cellphones.
According to our information, refugee/migrant transport is still being organized from Presevo, from where they come by bus to the shelter in Adasevci and then continue on via bus to the railway station in Sid where they wait to board a train to Croatia.
We’ve talked to eleven of the refugees originating from Syria, 8 male and 3 female. All of the respondents were Muslims of various age categories. The education structure among them is quite diverse, ranging from those who completed basic education to those who graduated from college. We have observed over the course of our visit a large number of families with small children.
The respondents reached Serbia by Macedonia. All of them wish to continue their journey towards their desired destination, most often Germany or Italy. They cited busses, cars, trains and ships as means of transport to Serbia. Based on the information we received, their travel expenses to reach Serbia amounted to about 1.200,00 EUR.
Vulnerable groups / torture victims
Several of the respondents whom we interviewed told us that they’ve has problems with the military and the police in their homeland, while one of the respondents told us that they killed his brother because he didn’t want to join the army and that he left his homeland after that.
Project Progress Report No5 15012016
