The situation at the border crossings Gevgelija and Kumanovo for the period 26.10- 01.11.2015
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 in the camp
Most of the camp (nearly 80 percent) is fenced from both sides towards the exit of the railroad with a high metal fence. The relief tent for refugees placed in front of the camp is slowly getting its lighting installation, as well as sandstone flooring. Metal fences have also been placed with the intention of keeping order in the immediate vicinity of the entrance and the camp registration spot. The setting up of toilets for people with disabilities is also in its closing stage, along with smaller bathtubs for bathing small children and babies. The level of hygiene has deteriorated, especially near the toilets, which were even completely shut down near the end of the week.
A new ticket office was set up and put into operation by Makedonski zheleznici (Macedonian Railroads) in the course of the week. However, the ticket office is not highly functional since the persons in charge of selling tickets in it are the train ticket collectors who need to get off the trains.
We urge Macedonian Railroads to provide more human resources on field, so that it would be possible to purchase tickets prior to the arrival of the train, which would decrease the crowding and tension among the groups of refugees.
Institutional treatment
No fiscal tickets are issued at the ticket office which often opens the door for manipulation on the part of the ticket collectors when charging for tickets. In one case, a ticket collector was ready to charge as much as 100 USD for only two train tickets. Some of the refugees, in case they do not have the money in the appropriate currency (EUR) are forced to pay a higher price for the tickets due to their determination to get on the train. Furthermore, when some of the refugees have no money for tickets, they ask the ticket collectors to let them get on for free. Those people are then redirected to the end of the line of people waiting to enter the train and their ride on the train depends exclusively on the good will of the ticket collectors.
The attitude of the medical professionals in the health dispensaries on field is unprofessional. Some of the medical professionals treat the refugees and the activists unkindly and inconsiderately.
The rude attitude of the police officers, some of whom are even from higher ranks, towards activists and refugees, continues. The police officers who are present on field rarely react to conflicts and physical confrontation among the refugees. Instead of intervening, they leave it up to the activists present on field to calm the tension down and stop the fights. In one case, during a conflict between refugees before the departure of the train, the Rapid Deployment Unit (RDU) intervened, whereby one person was subject to excessive force, i.e. he was forced down to the ground with a baton for refusing to be subdued. Regarding this specific case, the Helsinki Committee will instigate a procedure before the competent institutions. What is worrying is that there are indications that police officers have asked for and took a certain amount of money from refugees with the promise of “issuing them with documents more rapidly”.
The Helsinki Committee warns that such actions constitute a crime and that it is impermissible for police officers to unlawfully acquire material benefit at the expense of refugees while performing their duty.
Kumanovo
Available facilities and conditions at the camp
In the course of this week an expansion of the camp was started with the building of additional barracks by UNCHR, as well as warehouses for storing food and clothes. Moreover, three more barracks have been set up by the SOS Children’s Village, which were opened for use near the end of the past week. Due to the lack of heating in the tent and the low temperatures, the refugees are trying to leave the camp as soon as they can.
At the start of the week, the on-field teams reported that around 90 pairs of children’s shoes and two boxes of children’s scarves were stolen from the warehouse for storing clothes and footwear in the course of the night. The incident was reported to the camp manager, who in turn reported it to the police officers, i.e. the border police.
Institutional treatment
Visits by representatives of ministries (labour and social policy, internal affairs), embassies and international organizations have been observed on field, as well as a visit of the Mayor of the Municipality of Kumanovo.
Due to the arrival of a large number of people with disabilities, a there is pressing need of more wheelchairs and orthopedic devices. Furthermore, we urge for a solution to be found so that, if possible, people with disability are taken to the border with Serbia with vehicles, due to the grave situation they are in.
Although the police officers at the border crossing in Kumanovo have a generally good attitude towards the refugees, there are still cases when they fail to intervene during physical conflicts among the refugees, but leave it up to the activists to stop the fight. A problem has also been observed with people who sell cigarettes, protective raincoats, SIM cards for mobile phones, etc. at unreasonably high prices, much higher than their true value, inside the camp. The police takes no action whatsoever to prevent this.
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.