Serbian people smugglers have been apprehended in Croatia while trying to take illegal migrants into Europe in a van. There are still many illegal immigrants in Serbia and, without the Hungarian border fence, thousands could enter the EU without documents. Hungarian police and troops took action against 1151 border violators this past weekend alone.

No stopping

According to the official statistics published by Hungarian police on their website, the 347 people staying in Hungary illegally were arrested and escorted back through the temporary border barrier by soldiers and police on Friday. The same figures for Saturday and Sunday are 364 and 437, respectively. Besides, authorities apprehended three border violators inside the country last week and launched immigration proceedings. The patrol units of Hungary’s Riot Police arrested another 12 border violators on the outskirts of Ottomos on Monday morning. They told authorities that they were Afghan, Syrian, Pakistani and Indian citizens, but were unable to provide credible evidence of their identity, or regarding the legality of their stay in Hungary.

Recently, the number of illegal migrants has risen significantly again on the Serbian side of the border. Migrants can frequently be seen walking in larger groups in towns and villages near the border. Locals have had a hard time tolerating their behaviour for years. The migrants regularly leave piles of rubbish along the roads and in nearby forests, leave public fountains and taps running, cross intersections without being aware of the traffic rules, steal fruits from orchards and trample locals’ gardens and fields in the summer. There have also been examples of physical violence in previous years. The targets are usually other migrants, but locals have also fallen victim to their atrocities. In Subotica, for example, a group of three attacked a pharmacist last November. They tied up the female employee, stole the cash from the counter and took some medicines, mainly sedatives.

The situation is the worst at Majdany-Rabe, near the triple border section separating Serbia, Hungary and Romania. This where the Hungarian border barrier ends. The illegals are trying to enter the EU by going around the fence. In the villages nearby, one can see abandoned houses with doors and windows boarded up. Those who can typically sell their properties in a bid to move elsewhere. In the winter, the migrants moved into some vacant buildings, where they burned the furniture and the hardwood floorboards to keep warm.

In the vicinity of Subotica and Sombor, the migrants are picked up by taxi drivers in a store’s car park to take them – for some heavy cash – to the woodlands near the border. It is from here that the migrants usually attempt to cross into the EU, mostly unsuccessfully.

Reception centres in Serbia

The migrants are offered humane treatment in Serbia. The country set up several reception centres at the onset of the 2015 influx. These centres continue to operate, providing illegal migrants with food and lodging and sanitary care, as well as education for children. Such centres are run across the country, for example, in Subotica, Sombor and Kikinda near the Serbia-Hungary border, but there are also some in central and southern Serbia. As these facilities follow an open-door policy, the illegals are free to come and go as they please.

Serb police have repeatedly rounded up migrants who refuse to move into legal accommodations. On such occasions, migrants staying in abandoned houses or at train stations are put on buses and transported to Presevo, the southernmost point in the country. Bus drivers from Subotica say that migrants head back north again immediately after their arrival, to make new attempts to cross. It’s usually a 5 to 6-hour bus ride to reach the Horgos border crossing point from the southernmost regions of Serbia.

Crossing attempts from Croatia

Because of the Hungarian border fence, illegal migrants are also trying to enter the EU from Croatia or Bosnia and Herzegovina, with the help of people smugglers. Croatian police apprehended Serbian human smugglers after discovering illegal immigrants in their van. A 22-year-old Serbian man, who did not possess a driving licence, was at the steering wheel of the vehicle with a Zagreb license plate. According to the daily Politika, initially, the driver refused to stop for the police check. He drove off and crashed into two police vehicles. When the car was eventually stopped, he jumped out and tried to flee, but the officers captured and arrested him. Police also apprehended a 27-year-old Serbian national on the scene. Authorities have launched proceedings against both men.