22.06.2015.
Minister Gasic in Presevo for the current situation with persons seeking asylum
Minister of Defence Bratislav Gasic visited today the Municipality of Presevo that had been facing the great flow of immigrants from African and Near East countries that crossed the border illegally in search for asylum in our country. At the meeting with representatives of the Ministry of Interior, local self-government and the Red Cross, Gasic discussed the issue of better organization of admission of persons that mostly enter the south of Serbia from Macedonia. As of this morning, near the Police station in Presevo, Nis Military Hospital has organized the triage point and emergency medical help for the persons asking the Serbian authorities for issuing of documents needed to gain asylum.
Minister of Defence was accompanied by Brigadier General Slavoljub Dabic, Director of the Military Intelligence Agency, Brigadier General Zeljko Ninkovic, Head of J-4 Logistics Department and Brigadier General Zoran Lubura, Commander of the 4th Land Force Brigade.
- The Republic of Serbia fully respects all international conventions dealing with human rights and the position of persons seeking asylum, unlike some of our neighbours that are treating this issue rather irresponsibly. The Government carefully follows the issue and, this morning, we had a meeting of the coordination body composed of representatives of all authorized ministries and expert services in order to find suitable solutions. SAF and the Ministry of Interior with other services guarantee security, of the Serbian citizens, and of these unfortunate people who are seeking salvation from war in European countries – Gasic said.
Minister of Defence initiated for the admission point for the asylum seekers that had gathered spontaneously between the mosque and the police station to be moved to the location of the abandoned factory Vranje in Presevo. According to Gasic, this should significantly improve the conditions for the admission of these people, and preventive steps will be taken in order to stop the outbreaks of possible epidemics of contagious diseases or security risks. Units of the 4th SAF Brigade have been given the task of arrangement of the location where military medical teams, the Police and the Red Cross would be engaged.
Minister Gasic invited representatives of the local self-government to help SAF and MoI members that are battling the issue of asylum seekers in order to provide normal life conditions for the citizens of Presevo.
Ahmet Alimi, Secretary of the Red Cross in Presevo, said that the newly placed medical point of the Serbian Armed Forces was of great importance as the asylum seekers had previously received medical help at the local healthcare center that did not have the needed capacities for the task.
The medical point led by Lieutenant Colonel Tihomir Kocic, specialist of intern medicine and Major Dragan Tatic, transfusiologist, provided aid to several dozen asylum seekers until noon. Lieutenant Colonel Kocic said that the military doctors would do everything to help the people that need medical help, but that some of them needed more serious medical care, which must be provided by other authorized healthcare institutions.
Only yesterday, almost 2,000 people tried to cross the border between Macedonia and Serbia, with 1,600 prevented from it, and over 300 that succeeded in reaching Presevo. Gendarmerie Commander Colonel Goran Dragovic explained to Minister of Defence that members of the unit and of the Border Police could not close the border entirely, especially when smaller groups of asylum seekers are trying to cross it, which posed a serious problem.According to Avdij Bajrami, Chief of Police Station Presevo, since early May, around 4,800 people, mostly from African countries and Near East had applied for asylum in the municipality, while just during previous weekend, 900 new applications had been received. The authorities said that a certain number of asylum seekers did not stay in Presevo, but were instantly sent further, and that they applied for asylum in other cities in Central Serbia.
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