Since 15 September, the Hungarian border is closed for refugees. As a result more than 3 700 refugees are piling up at the aid centres in North Serbia where living conditions are substandard and tensions are growing. Hungary is also implementing reinforced migration laws on refugees, such as forced return to Serbia of those who refuse to register as asylum seekers or whose asylum request is rejected. Hungarian authorities are also detaining persons who cross the border irregularly.
In search for alternatives routes to Germany and other countries in western Europe, the first groups of refugees entered Croatia through the Serbian border town of Sid. Hundreds of refugees arrived in Croatia on 16 September after having been rejected at the Hungarian border, while others were being driven to the Croatia border directly from the Presevo registration centre upon arrival from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Croatian authorities are being receptive and have dispatched demining experts to verify that the remaining minefields of the 1991 – 1995 war at the border are well marked.
According to UNHCR over 9 000 refugees are currently in the Greek islands waiting to be transported to the mainland.
The lack of toilets and sanitation facilities, the collapse of the waste management systems with trash littering at refugee concentration points all along the transit routes, the provision of psychosocial support and the monitoring of protection-related threats faced by refugees are among the main needs. Another priority is the upgrading and expansion of shelter capacities in anticipation of colder temperatures.
Source: European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office
Country: Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Serbia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, World