Percorso:ANSA > Nuova Europa > News > Serbia to house freezing migrants in former army barracks
Serbia to house freezing migrants in former army barracks
UNCHR distributes flyers at Belgrade bus station
16 January, 18:59
(ANSA) - BELGRADE - The Serbian government and the UN refugee
agency UNHCR plan to house about 1,200 migrants exposed to
freezing conditions surrounding the bus and train stations in
Belgrade in former Yugoslavian army barracks just outside the
city, according to local journalistic sources in the city's
capital.
The barracks are in Obrenovac, about 20 kilometres from Belgrade, the sources said.
Transfer of the migrants was planned for Monday but heating problems at the barracks caused the operation to be postponed, most likely to Tuesday.
UNCHR personnel distributed flyers in English and Arabic to migrants in the areas around the train and bus stations in Belgrade, explaining the benefits to the transfer: a warm place, regular meals, medical assistance.
At Obrenovac the migrants will be free to come and go as they please and won't be prevented from contacting traffickers to continue their journey if they decide to do so.
It is still unclear whether or not the migrants will be registered, which most of the migrants refuse to do for fear of being sent back to their country of origin.
Sources said participation in the plan was expected to be high and that most of those who remained near the bus and train stations were expected to transfer to the barracks.
For them it would be important not to go too far from Belgrade and to stay in northern Serbia in order to reach the Hungarian border in a relatively short amount of time, where Budapest authorities allow about 20 asylum seekers entry each day. Children and the ill will be the first to be transferred to Obrenovac.
Sources said 56 child migrants staying outside the Belgrade station, some of whom are ill, were taken on Monday to the reception centre in Krnjaca, not far from Belgrade. (ANSA).
© Copyright ANSA - All rights reserved
The barracks are in Obrenovac, about 20 kilometres from Belgrade, the sources said.
Transfer of the migrants was planned for Monday but heating problems at the barracks caused the operation to be postponed, most likely to Tuesday.
UNCHR personnel distributed flyers in English and Arabic to migrants in the areas around the train and bus stations in Belgrade, explaining the benefits to the transfer: a warm place, regular meals, medical assistance.
At Obrenovac the migrants will be free to come and go as they please and won't be prevented from contacting traffickers to continue their journey if they decide to do so.
It is still unclear whether or not the migrants will be registered, which most of the migrants refuse to do for fear of being sent back to their country of origin.
Sources said participation in the plan was expected to be high and that most of those who remained near the bus and train stations were expected to transfer to the barracks.
For them it would be important not to go too far from Belgrade and to stay in northern Serbia in order to reach the Hungarian border in a relatively short amount of time, where Budapest authorities allow about 20 asylum seekers entry each day. Children and the ill will be the first to be transferred to Obrenovac.
Sources said 56 child migrants staying outside the Belgrade station, some of whom are ill, were taken on Monday to the reception centre in Krnjaca, not far from Belgrade. (ANSA).
