At least 500 migrants reported living in open in Serbia as winter approaches
Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
Publication Date | 15 December 2017 |
Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, At least 500 migrants reported living in open in Serbia as winter approaches, 15 December 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/5a9fc6bda.html [accessed 2 June 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
December 15, 2017 02:15 GMT
RFE/RL's Balkan Service
A 14-year-old Afghan migrant showers on a cold day near an old train carriage where he took refuge in Belgrade
At least five hundred refugees and migrants are living in Serbia in improvised accommodations or under the open sky while winter weather conditions are getting harsher each day, Doctors Without Borders said on December 14.
More than 100 of the migrants live in the forest on the outskirts of the town of Sombor in northern Serbia alone, according to the charitable doctors group based in France.
The migrants say that they want to seek help in state-provided camps, but they are wary of moving away from Serbia's border with Hungary and Croatia, fearing that doing so would prevent them from continuing their journey to final destinations in Western Europe.
The Serbian Refugee Commissariat, which is responsible for the care of refugees and migrants, claims that there is enough room for all those who need it in Serbia's centers for migrant reception.
According to official data, 4,150 people currently reside in such centers.
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