MINISTER VULIN AND AMBASSADOR SCOTT VISITED MIGRANTS IN PRESEVO

11. March 2016.

Presevo - Aleksandar Vulin, Minister of Labor, Employment, Veteran and Social Affairs and Chairman of the Working Group for resolving the problem of mixed migration flows, and Kyle Scott, the US Ambassador to Serbia, visited the temporary Reception Center for Migrants in Presevo.

The American diplomat said that he had visited the temporary center in Sid the week before and pointed out that there was a vast difference.

"It's hard to see these people who can’t continue their journey, can’t go back, either and who don’t know what to do," said Ambassador Scott.

He praised the approach of the Government of the Republic of Serbia and its cooperation with the NGO sector since the beginning of the migration crisis, convinced that the European Union had taken a step in a good direction and that it would soon find a solution to the migration crisis.

Under a decision of Slovenia and Croatia, these people can’t continue their journey, "Minister Vulin said, adding that the Reception Center in Presevo was the place where migrants could get any kind of assistance – starting from accommodation to information.

Regarding the security situation, Minister Vulin said that it was at the highest possible level and that he was familiar with the situation at Tabanovci, where there was tension among migrants caused by the fear of not being able to continue the journey.

“We can’t have any influence on what is happening in the territory of Macedonia, but the law of the Republic of Serbia and all international laws guaranteeing a certain level of human rights to every human being in the territory of the Republic of Serbia, shall be observed in our country,” said Minister Vulin.

He confirmed that there were unsuccessful attempts to illegally cross the border and praised the Interior Ministry for addressing the problem of migrants "without making any compromises, but taking into account the dignity of these people."

Minister Vulin said that migrants in Presevo, as well as 500 of them in Sid, hadn’t sought asylum, for which they had a standard permission of 72 hours with the possibility of extending it for the purpose of starting the asylum process. He also said that the government, in cooperation with international organizations, offered migrants the possibility to return to their country of origin or to the first country from which they entered Serbia.

Source: Radio and Television of Serbia and Coordination Body