Humanitarian Report for July 2016 gives an overview of the latest developments in the field and activities of the Norwegian Refugee Council and Praxis within the Serbia Refugee Response, implemented within the Project "Emergency Protection, Shelter and Assistance for Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Serbia," funded by ECHO.
Several notable developments occurred in the refugee crisis in July contributing to deterioration in conditions in Belgrade and elsewhere. In Hungary, legal amendments that came into force on 5th July 2016, allow push-backs of asylum-seekers intercepted within 8km of the Hungarian border, depriving them of the right to seek-asylum and be given international protection, contrary to the international law. Subsequently, the Government of Serbia (GoS) deployed joint military-police teams along the borders with fYRoM and Bulgaria which the GoS announced as a measure to combat illegal entry of migrants into Serbian territory and to combat smuggling and trafficking. The former led to an increased number of push-backs from Hungary in comparison to June, while the latter brought about a significant increase in the reports of pushbacks from Serbia to Bulgaria and fYRoM compared to June. Furthermore, Serbian Commissariat for Refugees and Migration (KIRS) started transporting refugees from Krnjaca Asylum Centre and Belgrade parks to other asylum centres or refugee aid points (RAPs), and opened the AC Bogovadja to asylum seekers. However, AC Krnjaca, Belgrade, returned to its previous policy of allowing entry only to those whose asylum seeker registration referred them to this specific AC, leaving the facility only fractionally occupied, and an average of over 500 persons sleeping rough in Belgrade city centre nightly. Serbian authorities also set up a waiting list system for legally entering Hungary in the transit zones Horgos and Kelebija at the Hungarian border for asylum seekers already in the transit zones or in RAPs elsewhere in Serbia. While positive in principle, a lot of confusion remains as to the functioning of this system.
In July, NRC-Praxis assisted 2,852 beneficiaries in total with protection services.
At the end of July, NRC-Praxis completed their ECHO-funded project, with teams concluding field implementation as of July 29. During the implementation of the project from Dec 2015 – Jul 2016, in both Dimitrovgrad and Belgrade, Praxis assisted over 25,000 beneficiaries with protection services.
Download the Report here.
