(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
In 2008, 77 asylum applications were registered in Serbia. The corresponding figure for 2014 was 16. Until May this year, there were already 500 applications. This is not because Serbia – with 13 percent unemployment and strong negative population growth – has suddenly become a popular immigration destination. No, asylum seekers are only in transit. They arrive primarily from Syria and Afghanistan, and aim to cross Serbia's northern border with Hungary. Once they have passed it, they can travel without border controls to countries within the entire Schengen area – Norway included. But the road there is long and dangerous.
Balkan route. The border between Hungary and Serbia is a rarity: it is a border between a Schengen country and a country that is neither affiliated to the Schengen cooperation nor a member of the EU. This has made the border a favorite crossing point for asylum seekers from Afghanistan and – in particular – Syria. This road into the EU is often referred to as the Western Balkan route. The first stage is usually via Turkey to Greece. Then the refugees are transported north to the Republic of Macedonia. There, those who have enough money can use a taxi service to Serbia. Those who do not have sufficient funds must start working. Every year, a large number of asylum seekers migrate through Macedonia, from south to north. In order not to be discovered, they often walk along train tracks passing through remote areas. This is not only physically exhausting – it is also life-threatening. On April 14 this year, 14 refugees were killed when they were hit by a night train in Macedonia. By then, eight human lives had already been lost in similar incidents earlier this year.
Through Serbia, the journey usually goes by truck. This too can often present dangers. In February, 40 refugees were hospitalized after the truck they were transported on board drove off the road in an attempt to escape police control. Once on the northern border of Serbia, the refugees are sent through the forest in the direction of Hungary – on foot. At this point, most people will already have been traveling for months. According to media reports, they will also have paid human smugglers on average several thousand euros for their services.
Transit country. The majority of refugees embarking on the Western Balkans route pass quickly through Serbia. Even asylum seekers consider Serbia a pure transit country. Ivan Miskovic, spokesman for Serbia's state office for refugees and immigrants, told Ny Tid that among the 13 asylum seekers so far this year, only 000 needed to be accommodated in reception centers: "The rest just continued on the way north," he says. he. "Even those who went to the asylum reception center only stayed for an average of six to seven days a day before traveling on."
The fast passage is good news. Serbia is in fact ill-equipped to receive large numbers of refugees and asylum seekers. Miskovic says that the sharp increase in the number of asylum seekers was a blow to the country's authorities. At the same time, he emphasizes that even though the number is large, most of the asylum seekers leave the country so quickly that it does not put disproportionate pressure on Serbian resources.
However, Rados Djurovic, who runs the Serbian non-governmental asylum center, believes that a lack of capacity could be a problem. The country's five asylum reception centers have a total of only 800 beds. According to media reports, African asylum seekers live in tents at one of the reception centers due to lack of space. It also does not help that some refugees who arrived in Serbia during the Yugoslav wars in the 90s are still being accommodated in asylum reception centers. The fact that the authorities are gambling that the refugees will disappear across the border into Hungary before they charge Serbia's asylum reception center may be punished.
Bottleneck. To stay in Hungary, refugees must apply for asylum. If they do not, they are considered illegal immigrants and will be sent back to Serbia. Nevertheless, many people fail to register an application. Djurovic explains that once you have applied for asylum in a Schengen country, you will be able to be sent back to that country when you arrive in other countries within the co-operation. And as long as very few of those who use the Western Balkans route have Hungary as their final destination, there are many who deliberately refrain from applying for asylum there.
Hungary and the Schengen area's border with Serbia is becoming Norway's national border with the Third World.
This has created a bottleneck. More and more illegal immigrants who are sent back from Hungary – and who have gladly spent everything they own trying to get this far – gather around the border town of Subotica in northern Serbia. There they are waiting for the next opportunity to cross unnoticed into the EU. The concern from the Serbian side is that they will remain for a longer period of time. They live in disused factories or in the open air. Access to food and sanitation is limited. This is where the danger of a humanitarian crisis on the Schengen area's south-eastern border can become acute. Rados Djurovic estimates that 30 people will apply for asylum in Serbia in 000. Three to four times as many will pass through the country on their way to Hungary. If that prediction is fulfilled, it is obvious that the burden will be significant – especially if more and more people are sent away from the Hungarian side. In this context, 2015 beds will soon be of little help.
Hungarian reluctance. It is still the case that the majority who cross the border apply for asylum in Hungary. They then escape from open asylum centers and move on to a more suitable recipient country. Preferably to a nation with high employment and an established immigrant environment – for example Norway. Gro Anna Persheim, Section Head of the Section for Analysis and Method in the Police Immigration Unit, confirms to Ny Tid that so far this year there has been a clear increase in refugees from Syria and Afghanistan who have stated that they have arrived in Norway after traveling across the West. -Balkan route. Although the notorious smuggling route across the Mediterranean from Libya to Italy has for obvious reasons been the subject of much media attention, very few of the 369 Syrian asylum seekers who came to Norway during the first four months of the year used the Mediterranean route, Persheim states. Hungary and the Schengen area's border with Serbia is becoming Norway's national border with the Third World.
From January to April 2015, more than 40 people arrived in Hungary illegally from Serbia. The corresponding figure for the whole of 000 was 2010. The development has led to strong reactions. The Prime Minister of Hungary, the conservative nationalist Viktor Orban, has put forward proposals to keep asylum seekers locked up and beaten around the clock, despite the fact that this would be contrary to EU law. He has also aired the idea of immediate deportation of asylum seekers who are considered to have abused the system, ie applied for asylum only to use Hungary as a transit country.
Admittedly, Hungary is now bound by international agreements, and will not be able to close its borders to asylum seekers unilaterally. The authorities will nevertheless be able to make it more difficult and less attractive for illegal immigrants to cross the border. This will increase the risk that the bottleneck in northern Serbia will become clogged. More and more refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Africa may be stuck in a country outside the EU that has neither the resources nor the infrastructure to take care of them. Djurovic from the Serbian Protection Center for Asylum Seekers emphasizes that Serbs are basically in solidarity with the refugees who pass through the country. In the XNUMXs, Serbia received hundreds of thousands of refugees from the wars in Croatia and Bosnia. Those now fleeing conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan are met with understanding and tolerance. But the standard of living is low, and unemployment, especially among young people, is sky-high. Taking on the responsibility for tens of thousands of asylum seekers – something Serbia has committed itself to do as a candidate country for the EU – in the long run will hardly fall into place. Djurovic fears that such a situation could be exploited by radical politicians to agitate against immigration and asylum seekers. Then the crisis will soon worsen.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has put forward a proposal to keep asylum seekers behind bars and beat around the clock.
A flexible flow of refugees. However, should it become more difficult for refugees to cross the border into Hungary, a more likely consequence is that Serbia will immediately become irrelevant as a destination for refugees. Because if there is one thing that characterizes the flow of refugees to Europe, it is flexibility and adaptability. Izabella Cooper, spokesperson for Frontex, the EU's organization for security at the Union's external borders, explains that the Western Balkans route has taken over for the route from Libya to Italy due to a change in Algeria's visa rules. While Syrians could previously fly directly from Istanbul to Algeria and from there travel on to Libya where a boat to Italy awaited, this route is now closed to most people due to visa restrictions. This is how immigration to Europe works: One route is blocked, another is opened. Restricted access to Hungary from Serbia will give human traffickers an opportunity to make money by finding a new weak point. The refugees will have a new itinerary, and the EU and Norway a new challenge. As Izabella Cooper puts it: "Border control alone will never solve the refugee problem." What is needed, as she sees it, is a coordinated, global solution that can bring stability and security to conflict zones. A joint EU agreement on immigration will also help. Meanwhile, asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan and Africa are becoming an increasingly common sight in Belgrade. They sleep in the city parks, and hang around the bus station where they wait for a ride to the border, and the next chance to cross into the EU. It is to be hoped that as many as possible will succeed. Here in the Schengen area's poor border countries, at least they have no future.
Jensen is a correspondent for Ny Tid.
Johan JensenJournalist@gmail.com
