New information centre opened for migrants in Serbia

Many migrants from Syria, Africa and the Middle East who arrive in Serbian capital will, thanks to initiative of civil organizations and citizens of the Belgrade municipality of Savski Venac, have an information center from Monday where they will have access to legal assistance and wireless internet.

The municipality of Savski Venac opened the info center Monday with the support of the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights and ADRA, an organization of the Christian Adventist church, and the UNHCR.

Migrants arriving in Serbia by bus and train across Greece and Macedonia, cross borders illegally and sleep in the open air.

For most of them, Belgrade is a one-day stop where they board buses leading towards the Hungarian border. Although most of them can afford their own food and necessities, the parks around Belgrade's train and bus station turn into camping sites, with people sleeping in tents or on the ground, surrounded with piles of garbage and bad smell emanating from the movable toilets.

Across the street from these improvised temporary settlements, the new info center has been opened to provide war-affected families with information about their rights, legal issues, and provide social and psychological assistance, access to computers and free Wi-Fi.

The head of UNHCR in Serbia Hans Friedrich Schodder expressed satisfaction that migrants will have volunteer translators, and that the info centre is located near the parks they stay in.

"It will provide these people with information that they need to survive every day and also where they can find shelters for asylum seekers, where they can take a rest and receive food and water," Schodder told journalists, commending Serbian authorities for what they have done so far to make the journey for refugees easier.

State Secretary for Migration Nenad Ivanisevic said the info center was one of Serbia's answers to the migrant crisis, while it continues to monitor the situation and act in line with international recommendations.

"It's up to us to provide them with everything necessary, which is health protection, accommodation in one of several centers for asylum seekers, and of course it is their free will where they want to go," he said, adding that Serbia will support initiatives that help refugees to travel through the country with dignity.

Since the beginning of the year, an estimated 70,000 people traveled through Serbia on their way to Germany and other EU countries. On Sunday alone, some 7,000 new migrants arrived, and will leave the country as soon as possible.

Among them is 34-year-old Samy from Syrian town of Aleppo. This mechanical engineer by profession traveled 15 days to Belgrade, running away from his town threatened by the IS.

Sleeping in the rain, crossing borders illegally, helping the older people to endure the journey, he now sits on the ground with his group of 20 people holding a piece of paper that contains his identity data.

"In the police station, I waited for four hours only to get a wrong paper. I couldn't book a hotel with it," he said.

Samy has a paper that allows him to board a bus and head to Budapest, the capital of Hungary. Samy knows that Hungary is building a large fence along its border with Serbia in order to prevent illegal migration but is still willing to take a chance, as for him and his people, there is no other way.

"You see a lot of trash here and a lot of angry people. But we have endured four years of war. We lost everything including our homes, so don't expect us to be gentle and soft. We try to be calm all the time. What can we do?" he said, adding the journey was exhausting for many of them.

"In Macedonia, they closed the border for four days. We spent four days in the rain. No toilet, no water no food, nothing. They tried to give us some water but we did not take it. We don't need the water. Just let me go in peace," Samy told Xinhua, adding he is hoping to find a job in Germany. Enditem