Why?
This project by the Red Cross of Serbia focuses on the evolving needs of migrants. Currently, the operation centres on: food and cash vouchers, health care, first aid, hygiene promotion, restoring family links, and contingency stocks for a potential deterioration of the humanitarian situation. In the recent influx of migrants to Europe, Serbia has primarily served as a transit country for those seeking other destinations in western and northern Europe. From January to August 2015, 66,000 asylum seekers were registered, with the total number of migrants crossing its borders being even higher. The majority of migrants arrive in Serbia from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Bulgaria, and between January and mid-October 2015, 223,000 migrants were registered in Serbia as having come from these countries, with up to as many as 3,000 arriving per day as of early September 2015. The municipalities of Presevo, Zajecar, Negotin, Dimitrovgrad, Pirot, Bujanovac and four municipalities in Vojvodina, Kanjiza, Subotica, Sid and Sombor (the latter two near the Serbian-Croatian border), as well as the city of Belgrade, are targeted.
What?
As migrants cross the border into Serbia, they usually contact either a processing centre or a mobile registration centre. At the processing centre, migrants are registered and given registration papers. Here, they can rest, and beds, toilets, and showers are provided along with food, hygiene items and other services, or they can choose to keep moving to another destination. Mobile centres register migrants but have no accommodation or sanitation facilities, and are found in border cities where migrants frequently enter the country. Registration usually takes 12 to 24 hours, after which migrants receive food, water, certificate of processing, and are able to rest for a few hours before moving on. If migrants seek asylum in Serbia, they have 72 hours to reach an asylum centre, where medical care is also provided.
Who?
This project aims at primarily assisting migrants who arrive in and move throughout Serbia. As such, the operation targets: 97, 860 individuals immediately upon arrival on the borders with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria, 97,860 beneficiaries to be assisted during the migratory trail throughout the country, and 97,860 individuals on the border between Serbia and Croatia (or Hungary, based on the evolving situation). Within this framework, those is need of survival essentials, such as food, water, hygiene items, those in need of urgent medical care, and women, children, the elderly, and the disabled are targeted.