EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SERBIA-AID Hundreds daily receiving humanitarian aid in Belgrade on migrant route to western Europe

Record ID: 144281

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/SERBIA-AID Hundreds daily receiving humanitarian aid in Belgrade on migrant route to western Europe
  • Date: 12th August 2015
  • Summary: BELGRADE, SERBIA (AUGUST 12, 2015) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS SEARCHING THROUGH CLOTHES DISPLAYED ON PLATFORMS CHILDREN TRYING ON DRESS MIGRANTS TAKING CLOTHES AND OTHER THINGS (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) ONE OF THE AID ORGANISERS FROM MIKSER HOUSE, IVANA ZARIC, SAYING: "They are very often lost, they do not know who to ask for help, how to get information that they need, so what are we doing the most at the moment is to give them all information on what they can do in the future and how to get where they want to." MIGRANTS WALKING IN MIKSER HOUSE YARD CHILD WALKING AROUND MIGRANTS SITTING AND STANDING IN SHADE IN CITY PARK MIGRANT LYING ON GROUND IN SHADE MIGRANTS STANDING IN SHADE IN FRONT OF WATER TANK IN PARK FOOT WITH SHOE REMOVED MIGRANTS SLEEPING ON GROUND IN SHADE VARIOUS OF MIGRANTS IN PARK IN SHADE UNDER TREES WATER TANK IN PARK MIGRANTS SHAVING NEXT TO WATER TANK CHILD DRINKING WATER MIGRANTS STANDING NEAR MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES VAN IN PARK (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEDECINS SANS FRONTIERES DOCTOR FROM MEXICO, ALBERTO MARTINEZ, SAYING: "The basic problems they have: they have been traveling for long hours, so they have blisters on their feet, they have dehydration maybe because of the heat and then the usual things -- they have respiratory problems, gastro-intestinal things and then we provide, as you can see, basic healthcare." WOMEN WITH CHILDREN SITTING ON GROUND IN SHADE WOMAN TALKING WOMAN TALKING TO CHILD ON GROUND IN SHADE MIGRANT FAMILY SEATED ON GROUND IN SHADE CHILD ON GROUND IN SHADE BOTTLES OF WATER ON GROUND MAN FILLING UP BOTTLE WITH WATER / MAN DRINKING WATER FROM TAP MIGRANTS SITTING ON GROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) MIGRANT FROM AFGHANISTAN , MUHAMMAD DARAN, SAYING: "I want to go to Germany with no problem, every country that make for me, make for me, help me that I should arrive on my target, I should study and I should play football." MAN WITH GIVING BOTTLE OF WATER TO CHILD CHILD WALKING WITH BOTTLE OF WATER
  • Embargoed: 27th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Serbia
  • Country: Serbia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2ALZDDWSW8RIV1P8CAR21T1PJ
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: On their way to western Europe -- mainly Germany - hundreds of migrants have been stopping for a couple of days in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.
    In two Belgrade parks, near the main bus and railway stations, between 500 and 700 people are currently living as a temporary rest stop on their route.
    Battling recent temperatures of about 37 degrees Celsius, migrants have been offered humanitarian aid from NGOs and humanitarian organisations as they lie in the shade, waiting for any kind of north-bound transportation to cross into Hungary.
    Among them is Mikser House, a cultural and design centre which set up a collection point for citizens of Belgrade to bring water, food and clothes for migrants.
    Every day from 10.00 till 16.00 (08.00 - 14.00 GMT) people bring old cloths, drinking water, or just come to talk to migrants and listen to their stories.
    "They are very often lost, they do not know who to ask for help, how to get information that they need, so what are we doing the most at the moment is to give them all information on what they can do in the future and how to get where they want to," one of the aid organiser from Mikser House, Ivana Zaric, said.
    City authorities parked water tanks in the parks on Wednesday (April 12) and Belgrade authorities have organised increased services to clean the parks and take the garbage out.
    Most of them told Reuters they want to go to Germany, and a few into Sweden. No incidents have been reported among migrants as they wait to continue their route.
    Medical aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) come on daily basis to give them basic medical help.
    "The basic problems they have: they have been traveling for long hours, so they have blisters on their feet, they have dehydration maybe because of the heat and then the usual things -- they have respiratory problems, gastro-intestinal things and then we provide, as you can see, basic healthcare," one MSF doctor from Mexico, Alberto Martinez, said.
    Some local restaurants occasionally send in food for the migrants who, in general, stay in Belgrade for two days before heading to towns near the Hungarian border such as Subotica and Kanjiza. Almost half the migrants are from Syria and Afghanistan.
    "I want to go to Germany with no problem, every country that make for me, make for me, help me that I should arrive on my target, I should study and I should play football," one migrant from Afghanistan, Muhammad Daran, said.
    Over 60,000 migrants have entered Serbia in the first six months of 2015, according to police data, mainly crossing from Macedonia and Bulgaria -- but police added that the number could be higher.
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