Migrants continue to reach the municipality of Presevo in southern Serbian in groups of mostly a dozen people, where they immediately seek asylum.
They do this in order to obtain documents that allow them to continue traveling. These migrants spend months on the road, crossing thousands of kilometers from Asian and African countries in their bid to reach the EU.
They cross Serbia’s southern border with Macedonia near villages Cakanovce and Miratovac. One told B92’s reporter on Thursday that they “arrived alone, using GPS devices,” and added:
“Nobody is looking after us. We have been traveling for 20 days via Greece and Macedonia. Now we’re here. It’s pretty complicated because of your rules.”
The villages near Presevo along the border with Macedonia are the first stop for most of the migrants who enter Serbia.
“Since the noon they’ve been banging on our doors, asking for water, for food. We give them that, and then tell them where to go,” the locals says.
Since June 15, between 400 and 600 migrants have filled out forms at the Presevo police station. The border police have stepped up passenger and vehicle checks on the border with Macedonia – but an increasing number of migrants seek asylum when they reach the crossings.
Border police official Miroslav Jovic said that 320 person sought asylum in 2014, while the number rose to 5,400 during the first six months of this year.
Labor, Veteran and Social Issues Minister Aleksandar Vulin believes that the number of migrants will rise during the summer.
“As you can see there have been clashes in Syria, there will be an automatic increase in refugees,” he said.
Authorities in Presevo are hurriedly repurposing a building that served as a canteen in a former tobacco factory. It will now be used to provide temporary accommodation for migrants, and is expected to open its doors in three days’ time.
