Story from the field - violence in Subotica

On 11th October 2020

In squat near Horgos refugees have made an awning from the 50-meter-long tent material we gave to them two weeks earlier. They also covered the floors of several rooms where they sleep and made a shower. Craftsmanship which they have is worth every admiring. There are about 100 people there - they take care of each other, help each other, cook, and play cricket on the improvised field. They say that they have no problems with the police and that the police stop by from time to time and just watch from a distance what is happening. "We have no problems, I think they are even satisfied because we made an awning and a shower. They like when they see us tidying up the place where we live, like now, which we would do even more regularly if we had the conditions." - a guy who knows English tells me.

However, the situation is not the same in Subotica. There, several people claimed to have been beaten by police both in squats and in the city itself. They ask: Is there a way to stop this? However, despite those difficult things, many still claim that Serbia is a great place in relation to what they have experienced in some other countries.

In addition, a group of guys from Afghanistan told us about a situation when they were attacked by a dozen locals - mostly younger guys - who were carrying baseball bats. They first attacked two refugees who were walking alone in front of the rest of the group, but they stopped attacking them when they saw more people coming behind them. It is worrying that extremist groups are now appearing in such large numbers and harassing refugees only because they can and that none of the authorities is reacting to that...

On that day, we saw more than 150 people and from their stories, we can only conclude that Serbia, which was one of the most hospitable countries since the beginning of the refugee crisis, has now become another place where refugees encounter mostly problems and misunderstandings.