Refugee assistance center Miksaliste shuts down

Refugee assistance center Miksaliste shuts down

As a consequence, refugees are once again expected to be gathering in a park near Belgrade's main bus station.

After traveling several thousands of kilometers on the road to a better life, Miksaliste was a place that made migrants hopeful there were good people willing to help them. Unfortunately, as of Saturday, that place no longer exists.

Refugees were able to receive humanitarian assistance, and above all, health care assistance there. The closing of the center now raises many questions.

"Many will find closed doors at Miksaliste, many will ask what to do next, the question remains how this problem will be regulated in the future. I can say that at the local level strong initiatives are necessary, not only by NGOs but also by local governments, and that the question of assistance to refugees still is one to be answered above all by the state, the Red Cross, something that would involve sustainable protection of these people," said Rados Djurovic from the Asylum Protection Center NGO.

Belgrade can now offer migrants the center for asylum seekers in Krnjaca, but this only includes beds and accommodation.

"The current capacity is approximately 550 beds, there are about 600 migrants, but that is not a problem because the flow of migrants is still high - some leave, others arrive," said Ivan Miskovic from the Commissariat for Refugees, adding that the capacity of the Krnjaca center would be expanded by 200 beds as of Monday because two barracks where refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia lived until now will be vacated.

Meanwhile, in the park near the bus station in Belgrade, the Info Park volunteer network continues to operate as a place where migrants can get initial assistance, thanks to volunteers and citizens. After the closing of Miksaliste Info Park is expected to take on a lion's share of the work.

"We have enough food, we agreed with our colleagues from other organizations that the distribution of these important things will be taking place here at Info Park. The problem that will be amplified by the closing of Miksaliste is the lack of toilets. We pleaded, appealed for eco toilets,that are yet to be installed in the park," said Branislav Djonin from Info Park.

This network noted that basic conditions and hygiene are currently the most important requirements to make sure that their efforts to help are meaningful.