Refugees in Miksaliste, Belgrade’s refugee aid centre | Photo: Facebook

“This is very bad for refugees. This place helped me a lot when I came to Serbia,” Arman, 23-year-old refugee from Afghanistan said as construction workers razed part of Miksaliste, an aid centre in Belgrade that offers food and other supplies to refugees from the Middle East.

On the order of the city authorities, Miksaliste is being demolished to make way for the Belgrade Waterfront, a major redevelopment project that will cover much of the south bank of the Sava river in the city’s Savamala district.

Savamala has become a symbol of Belgrade’s urban nightlife and is often called “New Berlin” after the numerous cafes, nightclubs, creative industries and cultural transformation projects that have sprouted in the area.

While Serbia’s government sees the Waterfront as a major contribution to the city’s economic future, critics claimed that the deal with Eagle Hills, a company based in the United Arab Emirates, was unconstitutional because it involved suspension of Serbian laws on the Waterfront’s territory.

Demolished buildings in Savamala district | Photo: Facebook

Many people living along the Sava river quayside also say the development will be bad for society and will only serve the rich.

Ivan Lalic, director of Mikser, one of the centre’s organisers, said he felt disappointed with the demolition as Miksaliste had become an important place for refugees coming to the capital.

Flood of criticism for Belgrade waterfront: Talks about the Belgrade Waterfront project started in 2014. Plans include the construction of the residential and office buildings, the largest shopping mall in the Balkans, a hotel, an opera house and a skyscraper. Aleksandar Vucic, the Prime Minister, says the project is extremely important for the development of the country. The government signed the contract for the project with Eagle Hills, a company in the United Arab Emirates, on April 26 last year. However, the project has caused controversy. The government has been accused of failing to respect legal procedures, of censorship of the project’s opponents and of lack of transparency. After five months, the government published the contract on September 20 last year. Documents published on the government website show that the parties in the project are the government’s “Belgrade waterfront” company and “Belgrade waterfront equity investments” as its strategic partner. Al Mabar International Investments, from the UAE, is the guarantor. The deadline for implementation is 30 years. After 20 years the first evaluation of progress will take place. The project will be evaluated positively if 50 per cent of the project is completed by then. Apart from government officials, few experts have voiced positive views about the project or the contract.

“This was an extremely significant aid project… I don’t know why this happened, except obviously for the ‘Belgrade on Water’ project. We need to find another place for refugees,” Lalic said.

Miksaliste started to work as a centre for the collection and distribution of humanitarian assistance for refugees in August 2015. It is convenient for them as it is close to Belgrade’s main bus station, which is where most refugees coming to Belgrade stay.

Around 300 to 350 refugees per day come to get free clothing, footwear, food and medical services.

“Just yesterday we had 70 children at Miksaliste who needed help,” Mikser said in a statement.

Since August last year, Miksaliste has hosted around 110 000 refugees.

Maja Lalic, one of the founders of Mikser, told BIRN that the authorities informed them about the demolition only on Monday.

“If they say they informed us earlier, it is a lie. Other people have had even worse treatment. Nobody told them anything,” she said.

The restaurant Sava Ekspres, the family house, the Iskra company and several other vacated sites were all demolished previously on Monday night.

Demolition of buildings near Miksaliste in Hercegovacka Street in Belgrade | Photo: Facebook

Several people posted testimonies on social media claiming that around 30 masked men armed with sticks, intercepted, searched, tied them up and detained them in the Herzegovacka street area of Savamala during the demolition process.

Serbia’s Public Information Commissioner, Rodoljub Sabic, has meanwhile called on the city authorities to explain the circumstances under which several streets in the Savamala district have been demolished on the night of April 25.

“The Commissioner considers it of great public importance that the city government resolve dilemmas related to this event, and – if suspicions of illegal acts or violations of human rights are confirmed – to take measures against those responsible,” Sabic wrote.