Serbia should adopt measures for reception of migrants

BELGRADE - Serbia should adopt measures for the reception of migrants, because the Balkans and the Mediterranean are experiencing a great wave of migration, Executive Director of the Asylum Protection Center Rados Djurovic said.

Data show that more than 9,000 people have sought asylum since the beginning of the year, and if the trend continues, more than 30,000 people will seek asylum by the end of the year, Djurovic told Tanjug.

This is just part of the migrants, as that the greatest number of the people do not address Serbian authorities at all, but try to move on to another countries, he said.

"We have to know who is in Serbia, what kind of protection they need, people have to be registered and have IDs while they are in the country," he said.

"Their intention to move on to another country must not be an obstacle for us to provide them with the protection we are obligated to grant under the Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Constitution, which means we have to offer at least temporary protection to everyone who flee from persecution," Djurovic pointed out.

GROWING NUMBER OF ASYLUM SEEKERS

More than 3,600 people from Syria, 2,700 from Afghanistan and 500 from Iraq have sought asylum in Serbia since the beginning of the year, and there are more such cases from many other countries, Executive Director of the Asylum Protection Center Rados Djurovic said, adding that the number of asylum seekers is shooting up.

"It should be stressed that there are more than 1.600 children in this group of asylum seekers in Serbia, 850 of which unaccompanied by parents," Djurovic said on Thursday.

The migrants stay in Serbia from seven days to two weeks on average, but this does not mean they...