IOM in Serbia: Working to Establish Independent Border Monitoring Mechanism

IOM

The chief of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Mission in Serbia, Zeynal Hajiyev, stated on Jan. 2 that the organization was working with international partners on establishing an independent mechanism to monitor the borders in the context of migrants, and that the Serbian authorities had shown understanding in that matter.

Hajiyev told BETA that the talks were still at the beginning and that he hoped the mechanism would be successfully established. That was his response to a question on whether IOM had noticed cases of so-called “push-backs” of migrants, i.e. returning those who cross the border illegally to the country they entered from, which, according to media reports, was mainly done by Hungary and Croatia, from where irregular migrants were being sent back to Serbia.

“The media and particular reports spoke about such cases, and there were certainly facts, but IOM does not collect such data. Naturally, we are monitoring the situation and, together with the international partners, we recall the important international obligation of honoring and protecting the rights of migrants, regardless of the issue of the legality of their status when they reach the border,” Hajiyev said.

Asked about whether IOM had noticed such actions by Serbian organs, he replied that he had been heading this U.N. agency in Serbia since October and that he had not heard of such cases. He said that they had excellent cooperation with the Serbian organs, ever since 2015 and 2016 and the “migrant crisis” from that period, when around a million migrants were passing through Serbia. He went on to say that there were 19 reception centers with around 5,000 beds at the peak of the migrant flow, and that there were now six such centers due to a reduction of the number of migrants.