Presevo – Aleksandar Vulin, the Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, thanked the local community in Presevo for its understanding and great engagement during the migrant crisis.
Presevo – Aleksandar Vulin, the Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs, thanked the local community in Presevo for its understanding and great engagement during the migrant crisis.
“There were days when there were 10,000 people in Presevo, which isn’t easy for a city that hasn’t got so many inhabitants, "said Minister Vulin and thanked the municipal leadership for their understanding and cooperation.
He pointed out that all the facilities that were being built for the reception of refugees in Presevo would, in the end, remain for the use of residents of Presevo and warned that the migrant crisis wasn’t over.
“103,582 people have been registered from January 1 until today, while after the closing of the Balkan route, the number of refugees entering Serbia is still large, " Minister Vulin said, adding that members of the joint patrols of the army and police, had, so far, prevented 5,008 people from illegally entering Serbia . Most such attempts to enter Serbia were from Bulgaria, while a bit fewer of them were from Macedonia, said Minister Vulin.
According to him, the army and the police don’t prevent anyone from seeking asylum in our country and 7,345 people have, so far, done so, but most of them left Serbia before their asylum requests were resolved.
"There are currently 3,754 people staying at the centers for the reception of refugees, and the largest number of them didn’t seek asylum," said Minister Vulin.
“Given that border protection activities are very costly, Serbia has sought assistance from the countries, which would have had much bigger problems if we hadn’t behaved the way we did.” Minister Vulin said.
Hans Soder, the Head of the UNHCR Office in Serbia, said at the opening of the third part of the Centre for the Reception of Refugees that its capacity was increased by 650 beds, so that the center could accommodate 1,500 refugees.
Mr. Soder, too, warned that the refugee crisis wasn’t over, which was why the UNHCR was, in that way, helping Serbia before the coming winter.
“400,000 dollars were invested in the works on the renovation of the new facility for refugees, and the same amount was previously invested in infrastructure in Presevo, while our financial assistance, this year, exceeded ten million dollars," Mr. Soder said.
Sciprim Arifi, the Mayor of Presevo, thanked everyone that helped with solving the problem of migrants, so that the residents of and the local self-government in Presevo didn’t have to deal with it themselves.
“We are grateful to the Government of Serbia, the UNHCR and foreign donors for helping us, through their teamwork, show compassion for the migrants. We are also grateful because the donors didn’t only help the Centre, but also the local community, where they noticed our problems that we jointly solved, "Mayor Arifi said.
Apart from the new pavilions for the sleeping of migrants, a hall, where a restaurant for the migrants will be located, is being renovated.
520 migrants are currently staying at the Reception Centre in Presevo.
Source: “Tanjug” news agency, Radio and Television of Serbia, “FoNet” news agency, Jugpress and Coordination Body