Reception Center for asylum seekers About 160people inside 300 outside
Most of the people outside have the paper from the police station for entry the camp. There are people sleeping all around, in the yard of the reception center in some objects from cement, even there is no door on it, so they have to enter in a small hole, mostly just a few blankets down on the ground, the others are in tents (they bought them in the city), and everywhere in the forest in sheds.
“Lunch Package” The Red Cross gives once day a “lunch package” (half of a loaf of bread, one yogurt and some pate) at 1 pm for the people outside. There is a huge line of 250-300 people. No women or children are staying outside at the moment, but people told us that there were women outside for 2 or 3 nights before they got a place inside.
Deported from Hungary We met an Algerian migrant who was deported from Hungary spent 2 months in Békéscsaba (one of the reception centers). During these 2 months he received 2 negatives, he made a court appeal 2 times, and then they deported him back to Serbia. In Subotica he was in jail for 5 days. He told us about the extremely bad conditions inside the prison. He showed us the release paper. The date is 05.11.2013. There is nothing written about the reason of imprisonment or about the deportation. So basically he has no proof that he had been deported back. He thinks that last months around 200 people was deported back to Serbia from Hungary. After this he went to Banja Koviljaca (the other of the two reception centers in Serbia). When he arrived the police checked him and his friends near to the reception center, the police told them – they can choose to go back to Macedonia or to Bogovodja. So they came to Bogovodja, where they were sleeping outside for more than one week at this point.
The King of the “jungle” (an elder person from Nigeria) He and some other people were kicked out of the reception center. One day when he went for breakfast the security told him that he has to take his stuff and go out from the reception center. No explanation, just because he was inside 2 months… and like “somebody else would now need the place”. It was the order of the leadership. He has serious health problems.
Another story of deportation and imprisonment We talked with 3 persons. They were 6 months in Austria (Traiskirchen) – negative-negative-negative- deportation to Hungary- jail (one of them in Nyirbator)- deportation back to Serbia. Generally people said they have no problems with the police in the “jungles”.
Corrupted management We heard again same like last winter, that the warden of the reception center (Stojan Sjkloća) and the people around him were taking money for places inside.
Rumors about the opening of another Reception Center A taxi driver told us that they will open Vracevic again. Although there was nothing mentioned from official side. *Vracevic – a village 5km form Bogovodja. This project consists of a “simple house adapted to accommodate asylum seekers” last winter, the Warden’s and the owner’s personal business (the government gave 50e per month for each asylum seeker) they put enormous number of beds inside. At its full capacity there were maybe 100 people inside.
Talks about self organization and protest We talked a little bit about self organization and organization of a demonstration together with the locals (the idea of the locals to block the main road), but normally it was not enough time to develop this idea. We planned an event in Belgrade for the weekend.
no border serbia 