In a statement on Wednesday (November 8), Serbia's Interior Ministry said that since October 27, it has rounded up about 4,500 migrants in the cities of Subotica, Sombor and Kikinda near the Hungarian border in the north and near the town of Pirot in the southeast, near the border with Bulgaria, and transferred them to government-controlled refugee camps.
Migrants arrested in Serbia. Photo: Reuters
The agency said eight smugglers and 119 people were arrested on charges including human trafficking and illegal possession of weapons and drugs.
Police also seized five assault rifles, five handguns, more than 1,500 rounds of ammunition of various calibers, hundreds of foreign passports and searched more than 81,000 cars and more than 300 homes.
“The Interior Ministry will persist until the problem of irregular migration is resolved and the human smuggling network is cut off,” the statement said.
The ministry did not say where the migrants were coming from, but most of those using the Balkan route into the EU are from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North Africa. The route runs through Türkiye, Bulgaria, North Macedonia and Serbia.
Many migrants cross the border with the help of people smugglers, sometimes armed, and shootouts between criminal groups are common.
Last month, three migrants were killed in a shootout near Serbia's border with Hungary, a route increasingly used by people smugglers to enter the European Union.
“These are organized gangs that include not only criminal members of the immigrant population but also… our citizens,” said Rados Djurovic, director of the Center for Protection and Support of Citizens. “They move people across the border in exchange for huge amounts of money.”
Serbia, a candidate for EU membership, is conducting joint border patrols with EU members Hungary and Austria. Belgrade has pledged to align its visa policies with those of the EU to help stem the flow of illegal migrants.
Hoang Ton (according to Reuters)
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