The situation at the border crossings Gevgelija and Kumanovo for the period: 09.05.2016 – 15.05.2016

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

In the course of this week, the number of refugees in the camp amounted to around 100. Smaller or larger groups of refugees, caught by the police down illegal roads across the country, are delivered to the reception tent in front of the camp on daily basis. After a brief stay in the reception tent and a round of security check-ups, they are deported back to Greek territory.

On 12.05.2016, the Ambassador of Great Britain, Charles Garrett, and the Head of the EU Delegation to Macedonia, Aivo Orav, paid a visit to the camp in order to get acquainted with the situation and talk to the refugees.

Institutional treatment

The number of refugees deported back to Greek territory in the course of the week amounted to around 330 . There are refugees of different origin amongst them, i.e. people from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Iran, Iraq, India, Bangladesh, and the groups are made up of men, women (pregnant women) and children. They stay at the reception tent for a short period of time where they get security check-ups.

Kumanovo

Available facilities and conditions

At the start of the week, the number of refugees in the camp was around 420, but later on it decreased, so that by the end of the week the official number was 305, but off the record there are around 200 refugees. This number is worrying, taking into account that at the moment when the borders got officially closed (07.04.2016), the number of refugees in the transit camp in Tabanovce amounted to 1,500. There is no information on what happened to the refugees who are no longer in the camp.

Most of the tents have been removed from the camp, since a construction of a sports field is planned. One of the bigger empty tents is completely closed as it is planned to be converted into a recreational center.

On 12.05.2016, a delegation of UNHCR paid a visit to the camp, as well as representatives of the Japanese Embassy, who got acquainted with the conditions in the camp.

On 13.05.2016, 25 refugees were caught at the Serbian border and were sent back to the camp in Tabanovce, since that allegedly was the place they left from.

Institutional treatment

The refugees who are left in the camp are in a bad psychological state, which necessitates psychological aid. Only those refugees who do not have enough money to leave have stayed in the camp.

There are no records whatsoever of the refugees who are  accommodated in the camp, those who are leaving or those who arrive to the camp from outside.

Irregular migration

In the course of this week only 3 criminal legal events related to irregular migration were registered. Two of those cases were registered on the motorway Gevgelija – Skopje and the suspect smugglers from both cases were apprehended. A total of 86 migrants, originating from various countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Congo, Iran, Pakistan, Syria, were registered as victims of smugglers.

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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.