23.08.2015.

Minister of Defence in Presevo

Defence Minister Bratislav Gasic visited this morning the Presevo Collective Centre for migrants and made sure that the migrants, who arrived from Macedonia during the night and the morning in large numbers, are receiving all necessary assistance. At this point in the Collective Centre there are more than a thousand people, while at the camp in the Miratovac field that number is almost four times higher. These are mainly migrants who yesterday crossed the Greek-Macedonian border and came to Gevgelija heading for Serbia in an organized way by buses, minibuses and taxi vehicles.

- Due to the crisis caused at the border between Greece and Macedonia we had to make another camp here, to take care of all the people who passed through Macedonia last night first here and then to move over to the Presevo Collective Centre, Minister Gasic said in Miratovac. He pointed out that there are members of the Presevo Health Care Centre, the Red Cross, the gendarmerie, the police and the Serbian Armed Forces in the field and that they all are working on ensuring humane treatment of refugees, providing them with food, water and essential medical care.

The Minister announced that during the day more medical teams of the Ministry of Defence would be sent to ensure that all migrants were adequately and timely medically taken care of. He pointed out that all the competent authorities are doing their best to ensure supply in the newly created camp in Miratovac field.

- All border crossings are passable, there are no major retentions or any crisis on their way to Greece, the minister said, noting that today in Presevo and its vicinity there are more than five thousand people, and that inflow of new migrants is expected in the coming days. The Minister said that the Collective Centre currently has food and water supplies for only a day or two and urged all actors in the society to help. The Minister expressed his satisfaction that migrants recognize Serbia as a country where they can receive humane and humanly treatment, and that so far there has not happened a single incident.

In the Collective Centre everything has been organized because they were ready for even larger numbers of people, and last night it was for the first time since the opening of the Centre that the police officers worked all night issuing certificates to migrants. The procedure is such that once migrants get their papers they leave for Belgrade by buses.

Migrants are waiting in lines, mostly men and but there are also many women, pregnant women and children. They are visibly exhausted, tired, there are injured and sick people, and last night in the camp in Miratovac a woman delivered a baby.

In the field near Presevo village of Miratovac, nine large tents were placed, donated by the Russian-Serbian humanitarian centre in Nis, and a number of small tents that the refugees had brought with them, and the camp is secured by police and gendarmerie equipped with combat vehicles.

The Minister stressed that all the relevant state authorities are involved in the preparation of the new Collective Centre, and that everything is done so that Serbia could be ready for the cooler days and to provide all necessary assistance to migrants.

- As we have said before, 15 thousand Euros is the figure that we spend daily only on hygiene, water and subsistence for these people. The amount that Serbia allocates from its budget is far greater, Minister Gasic said noting that Serbia expects help from all friends as Serbia is one of the countries that is treating migrants in the most responsible manner.

During his visit to the Collective Centre Minister helped a five-year-old boy Ahmed to find the bag he had lost . The boy entered the Collective Centre but without his bag so Gasic took him by the hand and walked with him across that part of town. Together they found a backpack containing the boy's personal belongings. To another boy Mohammed, who had previously said that he was hungry and thirsty, Gasic gave food and water.