HIGHLIGHTS AND STATISTICS
On 14 August, a young Algerian man committed suicide by throwing himself under the wheels of a moving locomotive on Sid-Tovarnik railway near the border with Croatia.
On 16 Aug, media reported of an offer of citizenship by President Aleksandar Vucic to the family of Afghan boy Farhad Nouri, nicknamed “Little Picasso”, should they decide to remain in Serbia http://www.b92.net/eng/news/politics.php?yyyy=2017&mm=08&dd=16&nav_id=102086. They have been residing in Krnjaca Asylum Centre for over eight months without yet launching a formal request for asylum.
4,405 new refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants were counted on 20 August. 4,095, i.e. 93%, were accommodated in 18 governmental centres, while the rest were counted camping rough in other locations. Although many centres now provide ample vacant long-term shelter, some 400 men and boys, including UASC, complained about still being accommodated in rub halls and tents (in Adasevci, Principovac, Sombor or Kikinda) and the related hygienic and psycho-social hardships, especially during the summer heat.
UNHCR and partners received reports of 105 collective pushbacks from Hungary, and 66 from Croatia, with many alleging to have been denied access to asylum procedures.
Since the beginning of this year, 125 babies have been born to refugees/migrants in Serbia.
UNHCR issued a new Desperate Journeys report, covering the period January-June 2017, available at: https://goo.gl/94gSo8.