Lawyers’ Committee for Human Rights – YUCOM
Human Rights House
Kneza Milosa 4, 11103 Belgrade, Serbia
Project Progress and Financial Report – No 2.
Date of the visit: 11/12/2015
Place of the visit: Šid and Adaševci, Republic of Serbia
(Train station and One stop centres)
Project: “Aid to refugees and migrants – from legal aid to conditions assessment”
Persons responsible for reporting: Ana Janković Jovanović and Momcilo Živadinović
Project progress
General impressions:
On December 11th 2015 a team consisting of Momcilo Zivadinovic and Ana J. Jovanovic, accompanied by a translator for Arabic, conducted a visit to the main railway station in Sid, as well as the Relief centers for refugees and migrants in Sid and Adasevac.
We observed a great number of busses which transported refugees/migrants to the railway station coming into Sid. From there they boarded a train for Croatia. At the time of our visit to the Relief Center in Sid, there were four refugees/migrants from Morocco present there who said they were here for several days and that they don’t know how to cross the border, seeing how they don’t originate from the countries which are recognized as countries from which many refugees are migrating from. Up to now they claimed they were from Iraq while they were crossing Turkey, Greece and Macedonia.
The Relief Center in Sid is in very poor condition, mostly with regards to hygiene. The restrooms are very small, dirty and derelict. According to the information we received, first aid teams are on hand every day.
We talked with some of the refugees at the train station but we were unable to conduct an interview because they boarded the train onward as soon as they got out of the bus.
A great number of refugees were present at the time of our visit to a motel in Adasevac which has been adapted for their increased influx. With permission of the representatives of the Refugees Commission we stayed in the motel for an hour. The conditions in the motel itself are acceptable. They are provided food, have access to the internet, sockets where they can recharge mobile phones and it’s warm.
Based on the information we received, they are being directly transported by busses from Presevo to this motel, where they wait for the next train for Croatia.
We’ve talked to twelve refugees, originating from Syria, Iraq and Morocco. All the respondents were male Muslims of various age categories. Their education profiles were also very diverse, ranging from those who completed only primary education to those who graduated from college. We observed a large number of big families with small children at the Relief Center in Adasevac.
They came to Serbia via Macedonia. All of them wish to continue their journey towards their desired destination, mostly Austria, Germany or Italy. As means of transport they commonly cited busses, cars, trains and that they have also traveled on foot over some course of the journey. Migrants originating from Morocco said they arrived to Turkey by plane. Based on what we heard, their travel expenses to Serbia ranged from 1.300,00 to 7.000,00 EUR.
Vulnerable groups / torture victims
Several of the respondents claimed they had trouble with the members of the military, i.e. they were pressured into joining the armed forces and going to war against their wishes, which is why they had to leave the country.
Project Progress Report No2 11122015
