MIGRANTS IN SERBIA HELP: THEY SEW PROTECTIVE MASKS AND EVEN OFFER MEDICAL ASSISTANCE

31. March 2020.

Bujanovac - Migrants accommodated in Reception Centers in Serbia want to help their host country. Protective masks are being sawn in three centers, while there are medics among the migrants who offer their professional assistance, says Vladimir Cucić, the Director of the Commissariat for Refugees and Migration.

The masks are sewn at the Centers in Bujanovac, Adasevci and Krnjaca, says Mr. Cucić, adding that the first quantities were sent to the public services that need such protection the most.

“I'm glad they started working, regardless of the quantity masks at issue. The important thing is that they have shown that kind of need and that they have something to be interested in,” the Director of the Commissariat says.

He also says that the production of masks began where there were sawing machines and technical capabilities, and that if that is provided in the remaining 17 reception centers, they will be willing to take action.

“If the machines arrive, it's no problem to get organized, there are a lot of them that can do it, ” Mr. Cucić said.

Migrants accommodated at the Bujanovac Reception Center sent a letter to the Government of the Republic of Serbia, stating that, as a token of gratitude to the Serbian people, they were making themselves available to the Government of the Republic of Serbia and the people in the fight against the coronavirus.

“There are paramedics, workers and farmers among us, but are we all, first and foremost, people who offer every kind of assistance that the Government considers necessary, starting from medical assistance, through distribution of goods to the people in quarantine, to the cleaning of streets,” the migrants said.

The Director of the Commissariat, however, notes that they it will be difficult to engage migrants in other institutions beyond their voluntary work in reception centers, since procedures, such as certification of university degrees, should also be complied with.

“It's good like this, too. It is it good that they help our system as well,”Mr. Cucić points out.

He also says that the centers abided by all the prescribed procedures and that migrants organized themselves to maintain order and the prescribed isolation.

Source: Nova S and Coordination Body