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UNHCR Serbia Update, 17 - 31 December 2018

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Serbia
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UNHCR
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  • 4,468 refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants were present in Serbia on 30 December – an increase from 4,346 two weeks ago. Of them, 4,205 (i.e. 94%) were accommodated in 16 governmental Reception/Transit (RTC) or Asylum Centres (AC). Additionally, over 260 mainly male refugees/migrants were observed outside centres: 100 in Belgrade City, some 150 camping close to borders with Croatia or Hungary and a handful in/near Loznica at the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina.
  • Tragic accidents again illustrated the dangers of the current situation of mixed movements of people. In the night between 18 and 19 December, a young man from Tunisia was electrocuted and subsequently died while he was trying to climb the train wagon at the Sid train station. On 21 December, three foreign men locked in a cargo train who could hardly breathe were found by the authorities in Sid train and provided medical assistance.
  • UNHCR and partners observed and/or assisted 468 newly-arriving refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants during the reporting period. Majority, 60%, were from Afghanistan, 9% from Iraq, 8% from Pakistan, 5% from Syria, and 18% from other countries, including 3% of Iran. Men constituted 73%, women only 2% while 24% were children, including 92 Unaccompanied and Separated Children (UASC). Of them, 44% arrived from Bulgaria, 42% from fYRo Macedonia and only 3% by air. Below chart refers to the observed arrivals in 2018 as at 30 December, totalling 16,060.
  • UNHCR and partners received reports of 164 collective expulsions: 128 from Croatia, 17 from Romania, 13 from BiH and 6 from Hungary. 63% of these reports alleged denial of access to asylum procedures and 46% mistreatment by authorities of these neighbouring countries.
  • Hungarian authorities admitted only four asylum-seekers from Serbia into territory and procedures in their so-called “transit zones” at Horgos and Kelebija border crossings, making the total of 20 in December, the lowest number of admissions in 2018.
  • Authorities, UNHCR and partners organized various festive events for the refugee children in the government centres across the country and distributed New Year gifts to the children.
  • On 17 December, UNHCR Serbia organized an end of the year event for its partners, donors and other friends of UNHCR, to present developments and achievements of its 2018 programme and plans for 2019. Also a number of UNHCR partners organized annual presentations: on 24 December, Praxis organized a conference on “Achievements and Challenges in the Fields of Statelessness and Child Marriages”; on the same day, Amity organized an Annual Meeting of the representatives of the centres for social welfare engaged through the project “Support to local integration of refugees and Internally Displaced Persons”; on 27 December, A11 Initiative for Economic and Social Rights presented an annual report "Realisation of economic and social rights for Internally Displaced Persons in Serbia", providing also recommendations on sustainable solution to the situation of longterm displacement.