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Gallery|Refugees

Refugees stranded on Serbia-Hungary border amid winter

More than 6,400 refugees and migrants are stuck in Serbia due to European Union’s closed borders.

Serbia Lazara - NEW
The Hungarian government allows only a small number of refugees to enter via the border crossing [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
By Lazara Marinkovic
Published On 13 Jan 201713 Jan 2017
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Kelebija, Serbia – After Serbian police raided the impromptu camp hugging the Serbian-Hungarian border, many of the hundreds of refugees and migrants previously camping in a sparsely populated area moved elsewhere.  

Yet, the nearby Kelebija border crossing remains their last hope of entering the European Union through Hungary, an increasingly difficult point of entry due to the barbwire fence that spans the border. 

Food scraps, old cans, abandoned clothes, plastic cutlery and other rubbish is scattered among the trees and bushes on the border. 

According to Danijela Korac-Mandic of the Novi Sad Humanitarian Centre, a group that provides food and other assistance to refugees and migrants in the area, Serbian police raided the area on Wednesday. 

They packed three buses with refugees and migrants who had not registered with Serbian authorities and dismantled their tents before sending them to the Presevo reception centre. 

Among the 150 asylum-seekers remaining in the area are many who escaped from the police raid and have taken refuge in nearby forest, barns and an abandoned duty-free shop. Others sleep in tents near the already crowded Subotica reception centre and a bus station. 

READ MORE: Stranded and sick, refugees endure harsh Serbian winter

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, estimates that more than 6,400 refugees and migrants are stranded in Serbia due to border closures across Europe. 

The Serbian government’s Commissariat for Refugees and Migrants released a statement claiming that every refugee and migrant will find shelter, especially as the winter weather grips the region and temperatures plummet to as low as minus 20C. 

Across the border, the Hungarian Homeland Security chief adviser Gyorgy Bakondi said in statement that a growing number of refugees are trying to enter Hungary. He also blamed NGOs for “providing misinformation” and claimed humanitarian groups spread the rumour that the borders were open. 

The Hungarian government, which deployed 500 new border police officers, has also announced plans to detain all asylum-seekers until their applications are processed. 

Follow Lazara Marinkovic on Twitter: @LazaraLazara

Lazara Serbia - NEW
The Hungarian government allows only a small number of refugees to enter via the border crossing [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
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Serbia Lazara - NEW
Monef Homero, 26, fled Syria and waits to apply for asylum at the crossing. ''I’m scared because I’m a journalist and I have a big problem with many people because I wrote the truth,'' he says. [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
Serbia Lazara - NEW
Refugees wait in a decrepit reception centre near Serbia's Subotica [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
Lazara Serbia - NEW
Two young women look out at the yard of the Subotica transit centre [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
Lazara Serbia - NEW
Many refugees and migrants wait to apply for asylum with Hungarian authorities by taking refuge in an abandoned duty-free store [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
Lazara Serbia - NEW
Borders closed across the Balkans following an agreement on refugees between the European Union and Turkey in March 2016 [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
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Serbia Lazara - NEW
Mohammed Haziri, 20, a Syrian, hopes to be reunited with his wife in Germany [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
Lazara Serbia - NEW
With little money left, stranded refugees back in Belgrade have become increasingly dependent on aid organisations for food and medicine [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
Lazara Serbia - NEW
Cold weather has amplified the challenges refugees endure as Serbian police seek to move them to camps [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]
Lazara Serbia - NEW
At a squat in Belgrade, a group of young men crowd around a camp fire to stay warm as night comes [Lazara Marinkovic/Al Jazeera]


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