The Serbia’s fence at the border with North Macedonia

In June, a year after our last visit, we went to Vranje, Preševo and Miratovac again in order to better understand situation at the entry point to Serbia, as well as to monitor the process of building fence, which the government of Serbia has been erecting at its border with North Macedonia.

Unfortunately, the fence has been notably increased, both in its length and size. The fence is high approximatelly 3 to 4 meters, and between the doubled fence there is a space for patrolling army and police vehicles. At the top of the fence, there is barbed wire. At the moment it is tens of kilometers long and is situated on the hills along the border. Due to the fence and increased presence of border police, including Frontex (European Border and Coast Guard Agency, in control of the European Schengen Area), some of the refugees have tried to enter Serbia via an alternative route – via Kosovo.

Klikaktiv condemns the policies of building fences at the borders which violates human rights of refugees. Serbia has been a part of such policy for more than a year now. We continue to monitor the situation and advocate for equal treatment and open borders for all displaced people.

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This field report is prepared within the Project "Protecting Civic Space – Regional Civil Society Development Hub" financed by Sida and implemented by BCSDN".

The content of this document, and the information and views presented do not represent the official positions and opinions of Sida and BCSDN. Responsibility for the information and views expressed in this document lies entirely with the author.