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Serbia still transit country for migrants, smugglers: gov't officials

Xinhua, July 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Serbia is still a transit country for illegal migrants although the Balkans route was closed in March, the Serbian government stated on Friday, stressing the country would fight against smugglers.

Ministers and members of a working group in charge of migrations -- Aleksandar Vulin, Zlatibor Loncar and Nebojsa Stefanovic -- visited migrants from Syria and Afghanistan sheltered at a center established one year ago in Presevo, southern Serbia bordering Macedonia.

They believe migrants have still been traveling along the Western Balkan route due to smuggling, even though the route was closed in March.

Vulin, minister in charge of social affairs, said that Serbia will do all in its power to prevent illegal entries on its territory and to protect its citizens, but also to secure humane treatment to migrants who end up on its territory.

According to him, 102,000 migrants were registered in Serbia since the beginning of this year, while for the whole of last year that number was 600,000. Vulin said: "Serbia will not allow itself to become a space where migrants pile up because everybody else closed their borders, disregarding international laws."

Stefanovic, the interior minister, said that since the beginning of the summer there was an increase in human smuggling. According to him, Serbia filed 241 charges against migrant smugglers this year, while last year that number was 1,015.

"Mass closure of borders across Europe made smuggling of people more profitable. Smugglers charge from 1,000 euros (1,105 U.S. dollars) to 9,000 euros to transport migrants through Serbia. We will fight against this," Stefanovic said.

Serbia needs to talk with European partners how to solve this problem, he added.

Loncar, health minister maintained that all migrants will be treated with dignity and receive good health care during their stay at collection centers.

"We provided medical services to 64,365 migrants in the past 12 months, while 29,000 people asked for medical assistance only here at the collection center in Presevo," Loncar said, adding the state allocated 95 million Serbian dinar (around 856,452 U.S. dollars) solely for obtaining medications for migrants last year.

Loncar estimated that illegal migrants in the past three months entered Serbia mostly through Bulgaria. Endit