The situation at the border crossings Gevgelija and Kumanovo for the period: 30.11.2015 – 06.12.2015

The weekly report on the situation at the border crossings Gevgelija and Kumanovo includes the following topics: Available facilities and conditions at the camp and Institutional treatment.

Gevgelija

Available facilities and conditions

Due to the construction works on the camp upgrade, the camp is without electricity most of the time.
At the start of the week, the Ombudsman of the Republic of Macedonia visited the camp, together with the Ombudsman of Austria and a representative of the Refugee Agency of the United Nations.

Institutional Treatment

The transiting of refugees towards the border crossing of Tabanovce takes place exclusively by train, while the refugees coming by bus or taxi are not allowed to cross. The wagons are always crowded, and the patients are nearly always either standing or sitting on the train floor.

The refugees whose countries of origin are not Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, are transported back to the Greek border with transport vehicles in an organized manner.

At times larger groups of refugees are held for longer periods of time on the premises in front of the camp, where they wait in groups to be allowed in. On these premises, the refugees are left waiting in the open air, they only have campfires for heating, and there is no place for them to attend to their basic physiological needs.

We urge the on-field services to carry out the filtering of refugees in the camp in an organized and coordinated manner which would accelerate the process of letting refugees into the camp and they would spend less time on the premises in front of the camp.

Protests were organized on the Greek side of the border by the so-called “economic migrants” whose countries of origin are most often Iran, Bangladesh, Morocco and others and who are expressing their anger for being stranded. Larger groups of these people are blocking the gate of the wire fence that the refugees are filtered through, so that the passing of refugees is totally blocked. The Greek police is deployed in large numbers, and on several occasions, they tried to push the refugees away from the gate by using teargas and spray, in order to let the refugees from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq pass. The camp was totally empty in the course of the day, and the gate was only open in the afternoon.

There have been allegations that the refugees were trying to cut through the wire fence on the Greek side and pass, an attempt which was prevented by the Macedonian police which took them back to Greek territory. The information about these incidents has not been confirmed.

On Sunday, 06.12.2015, a physical clash between two groups of refugees from Afghanistan occurred in the camp, which was quickly dealt with by the police.

Kumanovo

Available facilities and conditions in the camp

Intensive work on camp upgrade is under way. Mid-week, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Oliver Spasovski, visited the camp.

The necessity of mandatory wearing of identification cards and badges by the people present on-field was emphasized at the coordinative meetings which take place once a week.

Institutional treatment

In the course of the week, the influx of refugees was varying in various periods due to the selective filtering of refugees on the Greek side. The number of so-called “economic migrants” coming from countries other than Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq, who come to Gevgelija on foot, increases. They arrive in the camp in Tabanovce exhausted, with wounds on their legs and in bad health. The number of groups like these increases every day, and there are intensified rumors about  smuggling groups who promise the migrants they will take them along illegal roads. The refugees stay in the camp until they are given information of how they will be further treated.

There has been significant increase of the hate crimes resulting in robberies of the refugees who are moving on foot on the road from Gevgelija to Tabanovce. In fact, on several occasions, in the vicinity of Gevgelija, groups of refugees were attacked by armed groups posing as police officers. The refugees were physically harassed and they were robbed of all their money.

We urge the police agencies to investigate these reports in detail and proceed to adequately process them in order to prevent such incidents in future, adequately punish the offenders and protect the safety of the refugees transiting through the country.

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This report is made possible by the generous support of the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) within the project „Improvement of the rights protection for migrants and asylum seekers in the Republic of Macedonia“. The contents are the responsibility of the Helsinki Committee for Human rights of the Republic of Macedonia and do not necessarily reflect the views of FOSI.