HIGHLIGHTS AND STATISTICS
Over 7,860 refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants were counted in Serbia. 87% (6,768) of them were sheltered in 17 heated government facilities (below chart refers). The rest stayed rough in Belgrade city centre or the North.
Unfortunately, the accident on 02 February in Sid, when four men were critically injured after accidentally triggering an explosion on a train transporting fuel, had a tragic ending, as the life of one victim, despite immediate hospitalization and intensive care, could not be saved. The three other men applied for assisted voluntary return home to Algeria.
UNHCR and partners encountered and referred over 30 Afghan boys, who newly arrived from Bulgaria, to Centres for Social Work. Currently up to 900 Unaccompanied and Separated refugee Children (UASC) are in Serbia, with 718 accommodated in government centres, including 120 in Presevo, 33 in Bujanovac, 337 in Obrenovac and 228 in all other governmental centres.
UNHCR donated 80 blankets, 110 bedlinen sets, 60 hygiene kits, 1,000 diapers, 240 disinfectant gels, 48 baby powder packs, 60 baby bottles, 10 baby sleeping bags and 120 socks to the Institute for Mother and Child in Belgrade as well as 100 Refugee Housing Units and 2,030 bedlinen sets to the Reception Centre in Presevo.
Hungarian authorities admitted 43 asylum seekers, mostly families from Afghanistan and Iraq, one family from Syria and three UASCs, into procedures at the Hungarian “transit zones” near Kelebija and Horgos border crossings. Fewer reports of collective expulsions from Hungary were received this week, with some asylum seekers alleging mistreatment by Hungarian authorities. At the same time, the number of encountered collective expulsions from Croatia rose from 32 last week to 57 this week.
Between 01 and 19 March, the Border Guard’s Asylum Office registered 380 intents to seek asylum in Serbia.
