The gradual tightening of entry criteria in February 2016 and the final closure of Western Balkan borders to irregular onward movement on 7 March 2016 have left a group of some 1,000 people in the country who are now unable to continue towards their intended destination. Almost all of them are from Syria and Afghanistan. Around 770 are currently housed at the transit center at the northern border in Tabanovce, while 138 are residing at the Vinojug centre at the southern border in Gevgelija. In addition, 61 people are awaiting decisions on requests for asylum at the asylum-seeker facility in Vizbegovo, and another 12 vulnerable individuals are accommodated at a safe house in Skopje.
The United Nations agencies are seriously concerned at the conditions in which these people are living. The two main accommodation facilities were designed, constructed and equipped exclusively as transit centers, with an eye to hosting transient visitors for at most 24 hours. They are not residential facilities. Although people staying in the near-empty Vinojug camp have use of bunk beds in containers, Tabanovce lacks beds and the majority of the people acommodated there are sleeping on benches or the floor in collective shelters, or outdoors in tents. There is no privacy. Power outages are frequent. Heating in cold weather and cooling in hot weather are inadequate. Sanitary facilities are primitive. Freedom of movement is limited, confining people in detention-like conditions.
Most of the people in Tabanovce have been living in these conditions for more than two months. The Government, the UN agencies and civil society organizations have made major efforts to adapt the centers to new needs, but they still remain unsuitable for longer-term residency.
Conditions at the Vizbegovo center for asylum-seekers are also unsatisfactory. Residents there are provided with food of poor quality and insufficient quantity; hygiene is poor; the hot water is not working; no recreational facilities and services are available; and access to information is inadequate.
These poor conditions are of particular concern given the high proportion of vulnerable and fragile individuals among the refugees and migrants in the country. Individual profiling conducted recently by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) showed that women and children account for more than two-thirds of the total group. 28 of the women are pregnant, with four in their ninth month of pregnancy. 32 mothers are nursing. 187 of the total of 517 children are age five or younger, and the group in Tabanovce includes several infants born in the past two months. 49 are single parents travelling with children. 26 persons have disabilities. 127 suffer from serious medical conditions. All of these people have specific needs that are currently being addressed at only a rudimentary level, if at all.
These precarious conditions accentuate the already high risk of sexual abuse and gender-based violence, particularly where uncertainty, enforced inactivity and material privations breed frustration. Additional protection needs to be provided to women and girls at risk of exploitation and trafficking.
The UN agencies urge the Government to undertake urgent measures to remedy this situation and in particular to offer refugees and migrants accommodation that is suitable for long-term residence. The UN agencies are prepared to provide both technical and financial support in devising solutions that offer greater respect for human dignity and additional protection for the many vulnerable individuals.
The UN recognizes the immense challenge that the large-scale transit of migrants and refugees has posed for the country. At the same time, it has full confidence that the country is abundantly capable of ensuring more humane conditions for the 1,000 refugees and migrants currently housed in the country’s transit and asylum centers. The UN agencies reiterate their readiness to support the national authorities and civil society partners in this effort to meet basic needs and protect human rights.
For more information please contact:
Ljubinka Brashnarska, UNHCR - 072/ 269 346
Sandra Ismanovski, UN Resident Coordinator’s Office - 070/ 219 648
Suzie Pappas Capovska, UNICEF - 072/ 236 725