„I to am a human, not a dog.“
At the end of June, we visited a squat in an abandoned milk factory in the village of Majdan, where we were met by more than 100 refugees, mostly from Syria. In the last couple of weeks our team has noted an increase in number of people in the informal settlements, so called squats, as was the case in the milk factory in Majdan. In the beginning the most complaints refered to violence and push backs that most of them suffer at the hands of Romanian police at the border.
When we asked how often they try to cross border the whole group answered that they had been trying daily, but that just 10 of them on average per day actually succeed in it. They told us that Romanian police had used acts of humiliation more often in the recent period, in order to deter people on the move to try to cross the border again. Refugees report that Romanian police spit, swear and shout at them to return to Serbia. „Why they do that? I to am a human, not a dog.“, said one of the man from Syria.
During our work in the abandoned milk factory, two groups of approximately four to five men returned from another unsuccessful game – an attempt to cross the border. One of the groups complained that the Romanian police searched them, and then took away their cell phones and power banks, after which they broke the devices in front of them. One of them desperately said: „We just need 20 minutes on the Romanian territory and after that we would be off on our journey, why do they need to act like that?“
Since the beginning of 2022, the Klikaktiv team has noted an increase in number of refugees on the territory of Republic of Serbia, and especially in the squats along the northern borders which are at the same time external borders of the European Union. Unfortunately, with the increased number of people, there has also been an increase in violent pushbacks and cases of violence, in order to deter refugees to enter EU member states and ask for asylum there.
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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.