SERBIA/FILE: Serbian police clamp down on illegal immigrants with many coming from the Middle East

Record ID: 721208

  • Title: SERBIA/FILE: Serbian police clamp down on illegal immigrants with many coming from the Middle East
  • Date: 3rd June 2010
  • Summary: HORGOS, SERBIA (RECENT) (REUTERS) GROUP OF SERBIAN BORDER POLICEMEN, ONE OF THEM USING THERMAL CAMERA MORE OF BORDER POLICEMAN LOOKING THROUGH THERMAL CAMERA TRUCKS LINED UP AT OFFICIAL HORGOS BORDER CROSSING BETWEEN SERBIA AND HUNGARY BORDER PATROL VEHICLE WITH THERMAL CAMERA MOUNTED ON ROOF THERMAL CAMERA MOVING (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) BORDER POLICEMAN MIROLJUB TRIVUNOVIC, SAYING: "Primarily they are from Afghanistan, Palestine, Georgia or other Asiatic countries. A smaller number comes from Kosovo." HUNGARIAN BORDER POLICE VEHICLE DRIVING PAST, SERBIAN BORDER POLICEMAN WAVING (SOUNDBITE) (Serbian) BORDER POLICEMAN MIROLJUB TRIVUNOVIC, SAYING: "As far as cooperation with the Hungarian border authorities is concerned, it is very successful, primarily on information exchange and joint cross-border actions. And everything is aimed at the reduction of attempted illegal crossings." FIELD IN HORGOS AREA AT NIGHT FULL MOON IN THE SKY TWO VILLAGERS WALKING POLICEMAN SITTING INSIDE VEHICLE WATCHING SCREENS THERMAL CAMERA MOVING MORE OF POLICEMAN WATCHING SCREENS
  • Embargoed: 18th June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA733QB3FQRR1UEYKQVCEOYYJCN
  • Story Text: Serbia steps up patrols and arrests on its border with neighbouring EU state Hungary to reduce illegal immigration from countries including Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Palestinian territories into the European Union.
    For many years people from countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Georgia, Palestine and Albania have attempted to make their way into the European Union via Serbia.
    But with the recent introduction of visa-free travel between Serbia and the EU, and the bloc's border spreading east, Serbia has effectively become one of the EU's last frontiers.
    With that responsibility has come new equipment and a step-up in efforts to prevent illegal immigrants crossing the border - efforts that have been paying off, with increased arrests and detentions.
    Border policeman Miroljub Trivunovic said most illegal migrants he dealt with came from Afghanistan, the Middle East and Georgia.
    "Primarily they are from Afghanistan, Palestine, Georgia or other Asiatic countries. A smaller number comes from Kosovo," he said.
    The migrants try to cross over to EU-member Hungary, and the Serb border guards work closely with their Hungarian counterparts to prevent this.
    "As far as cooperation with the Hungarian border authorities is concerned, it is very successful, primarily on information exchange and joint cross-border actions. And everything is aimed at the reduction of attempted illegal crossings," Trivunovic said.
    Every night, a border police unit from the northern Serbian city of Subotica near the Hungarian border goes on patrol to control more than 180 kilometres of the border with its EU neighbour.
    A very popular place for border-running is in the Horgos area, near an official road crossing between Serbia and Hungary. Migrants reach Horgos, a small border town on the Serbian side, by bus or by rail and wait for the night at a nearby gas station.
    When night falls, the migrants run through corn and wheat fields, and sometimes swim across rivers and canals, trying to get into Hungary. Their attempts were moderately successful until recently when Serbian police received an EU grant for new equipment - six vehicles equipped with sophisticated thermal-imaging cameras, global positioning and laser range finders.
    Patrols may be based as far as 6,000 meters away from the border, watching the area for hours and waiting for migrants to come within range. When people are spotted close to the border, another police patrol unit carries out the actual arrest. Frequently Hungarian and Serbian units are involved in joint operations.
    According to Serbian Ministry of the Interior data, Subotica border police have arrested more then 400 people since they received the new equipment.
    After their arrest, illegal immigrants are usually sentenced to 30 days in prison and then sent to a special facility in the Belgrade suburb of Padinska Skela.
    Head of the detention facility Dragan Dubljevic said it could take months to establish the identities of the migrants, especially if they are from countries with no representation in Serbia.
    "First, we have to establish their identities - who are they, from which country, their way of entering Serbia, their intentions, why did they come and where do they plan to go," he said.
    Some of those arrested seek asylum in Serbia. Their routes might involve travelling from Afghanistan, Syria, Turkey and then on to Serbia.
    Those arrested are taken to a facility, but many of those arrested are reluctant to talk about where they come from, mainly out of fear from being prosecuted at home or revenge by human traffickers.
    Global agencies say the Balkans are a major crossroads for organised crime. Serbian Interior Minister Ivica Dacic said groups involved in extortion, money laundering, drugs, weapons and human trafficking had become a menace to society.
    "It is certain that there are no criminal groups limited to only one criminal activity. A majority is involved in drugs trafficking, but also in other crimes such as killings, robberies, extortion and abductions, as well as weapons trafficking, human trafficking and illegal immigration," he said.
    In the last year and a half, Serbian police have arrested hundreds on suspicion of involvement in mafia groups. So far this year, Serbian authorities have impounded real estate and cars worth about 100 million euros from suspects charged with organised crime and corruption.
    The increase in arrests has scared away traffickers and illegal immigrants and police data suggests that routes are now changing and leading from Kosovo to Albania and onwards to Italy across the Adriatic sea.
    Traffickers commonly charge between 2,000 and 3,000 euros, the equivalent of around 2400 to 3600 U.S dollars, to smuggle a person into the prosperous EU.
    Serbia is trying to establish closer ties with the EU and eventually join the bloc.
    The European Union has demanded Serbia combat crime, corruption, nepotism and red tape as a condition of moving towards membership. It granted Serbia visa-free travel after its authorities, including police, proved their credibility to crack down on crime and to improve control of previously porous borders.
    The Serbian Interior Ministry says they have arrested 186 illegal migrants in the Horgos frontier area since January. The U.N. refugee agency estimates there are 17,000 de facto stateless people in Serbia who cannot benefit from citizenship rights because of a lack of documentation.
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