A Weekend in InfoPark

A Weekend in InfoPark

Days at once a full park are becoming increasingly strange. Two Belgrade parks are without tents and without support logistics except for our friends like Natasa or Zarka and us - the last volunteers defending our right to help - but with a steady daily influx of refugees coming mostly from the towns near Bulgarian borders such as Zaječar and Dimitrovgrad. Meanwhile, the new hot spot is being established and more and more people enter Serbia via Negotin.

Today we witnessed an increase of Syrian refugees again, a few big families roamed around bus station, worried what to do and where to go. Upon our suggestion, they decided to rather stay in Belgrade for a few days than to carry on to a hell of a Serbia/Croatia border. They were ill, tired, full of Tabanovce, Miratovac and Presevo mud and eager to spend a night in a warm room and clean bed. We actually still don't get it how they made it to Belgrade instead of Croatian border, but let it be. InfoPark has teamed up with a wonderful initiative of MannKind who converted a Dorcol hostel into a free shelter where up to 26 people can stay without paying. Furthermore, they organized a free (Lux) taxi shuttles so it's really a no brainer for everyone who slept in a warm bed many nights ago. Info Park welcomes everyone who want to help these people having safe nights in Belgrade, please do bring any refugees you want to help in this way to us and we will take care they reach the shelter.

And we heard once again a summertime mantra: "Ordinary people in Serbia are so so so nice, thank you thank you thank you". I couldn't stop laughing when a big mother of the family (and this group was really a sort of matriarchate), munching on dates we offered her while driving, pointing at run down but beautiful facades of old buildings in downtown Belgrade, said:"Oh this is very nice, like in Damascus!". Actually we all laughed, as fear and exhaustion left their faces and they started to smile again. Humans! "Camping" in parks is not allowed anymore and tents are evicted. Still between 300 and 500 people daily pass through Belgrade, some days more, some days less. Practically each of them stops at InfoPark asking for every possible help.

As most of them are Afghani men with very very little money, robbed and tortured and beaten by everyone in Bulgaria, from police to citizens, hunted by psychopath hunters, attacked by vile citizens, we try to help as much as we can. Some of them we take to doctors, most of them we assist with train and bus tickets to Croatian border, we also ask them if they want to go to Krnjaca asylum camp but it seems they all want to reach their destinations as fast as possible so they leave soon.

We also connect them with kind donors of free tickets for the poorest among them. Lots of foreigners or Belgraders want to pay for the next step of their trip if they are left with empty pockets here.

Another boring Saturday in the park? Well....