The situation at the border crossings Gevgelija and Kumanovo for the period: 19.12.2016 – 25.12.2016

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 was 98, and after the departure of one family from the camp, it now amounts to 91.

Due to the poor weather and the low temperatures, heaters have been set up in the toilets in the camp in order to avoid freezing of the water-pipes. The road leading from the river Suva to the camp has also been paved.

The Humanitarian Organization Legis distributed bags of sweets to the children in the camp for the New Year.

Institutional treatment

The refugees who are staying in the camp for a longer period of time are outraged because of their unresolved status and the conditions in the camp. They have verbally expressed their anger on several occasions and are announcing a hunger strike unless their status is soon solved.

In the course of the week, individuals of various origins were brought to the camp on several occasions. At the very start of the week, one person from Pakistan was brought, and after being questioned and registered by the police services, he was taken to Greece. In the course of the night, a group of 7 refugees from various place such as Syria, Iraq, Pakistan and Palestine, arrived. Two of them had serious health problems, whereby one of them was found to have hypothermia, while the other one had a sprained joint. The Red Cross provided them with medical and humanitarian aid, whereby 6 of them were transported to Greece in the course of the night, while the one with injuries was kept for a few more hours. On the next day, two refugees caught by the police in the vicinity of Bogdanci were brought – one originating from Pakistan, while the other from Eritrea. After they were registered by the police, they were immediately transported to Greece.

On 22.12.2016, about 17 refugees originating from Pakistan were brought to the camp. In the course of the afternoon they were also transported to Greek territory.

A seven-member family originating from Iraq which had been staying in the camp for a about a month, was transported to Greece on 25.12.2016, at their own request. The reason they gave for their departure was the hopeless situation of the refugees in the camp. The woman in the family, who is nine months pregnant, signed a statement that she gives up the medical care of the Red Cross and proceeds with the trip at her own risk.

Kumanovo

Available facilities and conditions

The number of refugees has significantly dropped in the course of the week, due to the activation of the smuggling groups in the vicinity of Kumanovo. In these past few days, the number of refugees amounted to 68, 48 of whom are officially registered, while the remaining 28 are not.

The refugees complain that in anticipation of low temperatures, they are not being given enough blankets, or that the blankets they are using are old and worn-out.

Institutional treatment

Over the week, one family and one refugee originating from Algeria who suffered an electricity shock while trying to get on a train, left the camp. It is thought that they headed towards Serbia, with the help of smuggling groups.

The Ministry of Interior warns about reactivation of the smuggling groups operating in the vicinity of Tabanovce, and assures that it actively monitors them and investigates.

The competent institutions have made a decision that in the oncoming period all the refugees from vulnerable groups will be admitted to the camp, i.e. juveniles, pregnant women, etc.

On 23.12.2016, a refugee originating from Iran arrived to the camp, who had been “deported” from Serbia to Macedonia. Because he was registered in Serbia, according to his testimony, the Serbian police services had destroyed his documents. He was told that he could take food from the camp, whereby he was told that he should leave it.

The situation in the Shelter Centers in the Republic of Macedonia

The number of refugees who are accommodated in the Shelter Centers is not available.

Irregular migration

In the course of this week, the Ministry of Interior registered two criminal and legal events related to migrant-smuggling. One of them referred to 20 refugees originating from Afghanistan who were caught in a vehicle on the stretch from Kavadarci to Mushov Grob on 10.04.2016, whereby criminal charges were pressed against five Macedonian citizens for “migrant smuggling”.

In the second event, on 22.12.2016, 10 refugees originating from Afghanistan were caught in a wood in the vicinity of the village of Drazhevo, accompanied by a Macedonian citizen. The person was apprehended, and the refugees were taken to the police station in Strumica for the purpose of clarification of the case, whereby they will be accommodated in a Shelter Center for foreigners.