The situation at the border crossings Gevgelija and Kumanovo for the period: 25.07.2016 – 31.07.2016

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

The number of refugees in the camp in the course of the week fluctuated between 125 and 128, without taking into consideration the nearly daily arrivals and departures of refugees caught up down illegal roads who stay in the camp very briefly.

The setting up of new containers in front of the camp reception tent is being announced, to accommodate the refugees who are asylum seekers. Although they will be accommodated in front of the camp, the asylum seekers will be able to use all of the available services in the camp (laundry, toilets, kitchen). A four-member family from Afghanistan who are asylum-seekers is the first such case.

The NGOs on field are organizing workshops for the women and children, while men are only left with sports activities for entertainment.

Institutional treatment

On 25.07.2016, 14 refugees originating from Afghanistan, Morocco, Libya and, most of them, from Pakistan were brought to the camp accompanied with the police. They were caught in the vicinity of the village of Smokvica, Gevgelija. Immediately after, two more refugees originating from Syria were brought, who were caught near Dojran. After the security services interviewed the refugees, all of them were transported back to Greek territory.

On the next day, 5 more refugees originating from Iraq were taken to the camp, caught by the police in the vicinity of Novo Selo, Strumica. By the end of the week, only one more man originating from Syria, who was travelling alone from Greece was brought to the camp. He was sheltered in the camp and provided with humanitarian aid.

Kumanovo 

Available facilities and conditions

Over the week, the number of refugees in the camp in Tabanovce increased from 70 to about 95. There is a surge of new refugees on daily basis, originating from Morocco, Algeria, Syria, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Some of them come from Greece with the aid of smuggling groups, some have been sent back to Macedonia from Serbia, while many of them come to the camp to find shelter from the smuggling groups.

Institutional treatment

Increased movement of the refugees from this region has been observed. It impossible to pin down the exact number of refugees accommodated in the camp, since most of the newly arrived refugees have not been registered yet. The competent institutions tell them to leave the camp after they receive humanitarian aid, yet they choose to stay. At the same time, no records are kept of the refugees who have entered the camp and left, and then came back again.

In two separate cases, groups of refugees who arrived to the camp complained that they had been physically abused, robbed and blackmailed by smugglers on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia.

Two refugees from Algeria, in an attempt to climb on a cargo train to Serbia, suffered an electricity shock from a wire, whereby one of them was more seriously, and the other more lightly injured. Both of them were transported to the hospital where the former stayed due to the gravity of the injuries.

Towards the end of the week, 20 refugees from Algeria, Morocco, Bangladesh and Pakistan arrived. While talking to them, they informed us that they had been travelling away from their country for nearly one year. At the same time, they complained of the bad treatment and physical abuse by the Greek police. Immediately after them, another group of 3 persons from Morocco arrived, one of them with visible bodily injuries and in need of medical attention.

The Helsinki Committee appeals to the competent institutions and security services, to take urgent and serious measures to guarantee the safety and physical integrity of the refugees and illegal migrants moving on the territory of the Republic of Macedonia, which will include mandatory admission to the reception-transit centers and registration there, as well as adequate investigation into the reported cases of violence.

The situation at the shelter centers in the Republic of Macedonia

Data concerning the number of refugees in the shelter centers in the Republic of Macedonia is not available at the moment.

Irregular migration

Two criminal-legal events related to migrant smuggling were registered at the Ministry of Internal Affairs this week. In the first case, 26 refugees, 21 of whom from Afghanistan and 5 from Pakistan, were caught up down the Skopje-Gevgelija motorway, in the vicinity of the village of Smokvica, in a parked cargo vehicle with Tetovo registration plates. The driver of the vehicle was not found at the crime scene. Two refugees were transferred to the Shelter Center in Skopje, while the rest of them were sent to the Transit Shelter Center in Gevgelija.

On the same day, on the regional road Valandovo – Dojran, a larger group of refugees were caught under a bridge, in a vehicle with Strumica registration plates and without a driver. After inspection was carried out, measures are being taken to clarify both of the cases.

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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.