GERMANY-KOSOVO-MIGRANTS German police deployed to Serbia-Hungary border to stem Kosovo exodus

Record ID: 348845

  • Title: GERMANY-KOSOVO-MIGRANTS German police deployed to Serbia-Hungary border to stem Kosovo exodus
  • Date: 13th February 2015
  • Summary: NEAR SUBOTICA AND SUBOTICA, SERBIA (FEBRUARY 13, 2015) (REUTERS) ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** MIGRANT FROM KOSOVO CLIMBING OVER FENCE WOMAN HANDING BAG TO MAN, GROUP OF MIGRANTS WATCHING MEN AND WOMEN CLIMBING OVER FENCE WOMAN CLIMBING OVER FENCE, ANOTHER WOMAN HOLDING HER HAND GROUP OF MIGRANTS FROM KOSOVO WALKING ON ROAD MAN WALKING ON ROAD, HOLDING CHILD GR
  • Embargoed: 28th February 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Serbia
  • Country: Serbia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA8WU7GSS3RYHAWJQ0W67KRFC8F
  • Story Text: Germany has sent 20 police officers to the border between Hungary and Serbia to help control a surge in the number of asylum seekers heading into the European Union.
    "As you can see, following the agreement of our interior ministry with German police, colleagues from Germany have arrived to help us with their equipment, vehicles and their experience in trying to stop people from illegally crossing the state border. They will be working in Subotica and the area which covers the state border with Hungary", Serbian border police commander Nenad Sekulic said as the units were preparing for their first joint border patrol on Friday ( February13).
    The EU has seen a sharp rise in the number of Kosovo citizens smuggling themselves into the bloc via Hungary. Some 10,000 Kosovars filed for asylum in Hungary in just one month this year, many fleeing from poverty and unemployment.
    Since September, more than 30,000 have been caught in Hungary, compared with 6,000 for the whole of 2013. Almost all apply for asylum, and use the time it takes to process their applications to give overstretched immigration authorities the slip and push westwards to the likes of Germany and Switzerland through the EU's borderless Schengen zone.
    Aided by a relaxation of entry rules to Serbia, families travel by bus for 15 euros per person to the Serbian capital, Belgrade, then again by bus to the northern town of Subotica, from where they take a taxi to the border and walk across, through a water-filled ditch and then kilometres of forest.
    Immigration has shot up the political agenda in Germany with many voters angry about the cost and fearful that migrants and refugees will take their jobs.
    German interior ministry said authorities would prioritise asylum applications of Kosovo citizens, deciding on them within two weeks and stepping up efforts to show Germany is not an easy place to get applications through.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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