Hungary was due to begin detaining asylum-seekers in shipping-container camps on its southern border with Serbia on Tuesday.

Asylum-seekers entering Hungary as well as those already in the country will be confined in camps while their applications are processed.

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade Bottleneck in Serbia A year after tighter border controls sealed off the Balkan route for people seeking asylum in Europe, many continue to stream into Serbia where a bottleneck has formed due to tough security measures to the north. Mostly of Afghan and Pakistani origin, 6,500 asylum seekers are currently in Serbia, a thousand of whom have occupied an abandoned train depot in Belgrade.

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade Distrust of state-run camps Those interviewed inside the train depot expressed distrust of state institutions, believing they would be deported if they accepted shelter in government-run camps. Deportation accounts are hard to verify, but Zedran Kahn, a 20-year-old Afghan, said he was "kicked around like a football" while being transferred more than 18 times between Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia.

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade 'Problems make a man old' Rehan, 28, a marketing manager from Kabul, holds a photo taken on his last day in Afghanistan. "I want to register for asylum, but they only take families," he told DW. "They think refugees are Daesh [Arabic term for "Islamic State" - the ed.], but why would Daesh come to live like this? Daesh has enough money to go to Europe by plane … these problems make a man old."

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade Sickness spreads People began inhabiting the abandoned warehouses over the summer, but numbers increased dramatically when winter set in. Scabies, body lice and other health conditions have become rampant as a result of the crowded living quarters. Humanitarian organizations have worked to treat outbreaks for several months, but admit the only solution is to relocate the inhabitants.

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade Three showers for 1,000 people In response, warehouse inhabitants rigged a communal bathing area by filling oil barrels with water and heating them from below with campfires. Three indoor showers are provided in Belgrade’s Refugee Aid Miksaliste center, but priority’s given to those with confirmed cases of scabies or body lice, and facilities remain insufficient for the 1,000 people living in the train depot.

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade Humanitarian aid suspended People line up once a day for food provided by independent volunteers. In an effort to discourage asylum-seekers from living in the warehouses, the Serbian government has recommended humanitarian organizations stop all aid distribution to push people into state-run camps with better living conditions. But Christian and other groups have continued to provide food and clothing.

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade Relocation effort Ivan Miskovic, spokesperson for the Commissioner for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia (KIRS), says humanitarian groups must work with the Serbian government to move warehouse inhabitants into state-run camps: "The real and only information for those people residing in the parks [and abandoned buildings] is that they should be accommodated in the centers."

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade Question of space While the Serbian government has pledged to provide at least 6,000 beds within its camps, humanitarian workers have questioned whether such spaces have been made available. The notion of inhabiting "closed camps" has also kept asylum-seekers out of state institutions, but Miskovic says free movement was only limited at night in some camps to contain scabies and body lice outbreaks.

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade Waiting for action Daniela Korac-Mandic, coordinator of the Novi Sad Humanitarian Center, said she wanted to work with the government, but progress has been slow in Belgrade. "Emergency shelter could be provided, but of course we need authorities to authorize that, or allow that, which is why we are just waiting to see what decision will be taken," she told DW.

Abandoned refugees in Belgrade A change in attitude? As they await government decisions, the inhabitants of Belgrade’s abandoned train depot have become overwhelmingly pessimistic as a result of their experiences. Tensions run high and fights break out regularly in the smoke-filled warehouses. "Europe's attitude toward refugees changed, but that doesn't change the fact we still have wars in our countries," said Sulaiman, a 15-year-old Afghan. Author: Diego Cupolo (Belgrade)



A statement by the interior ministry said the country's prison service installed 324 shipping container homes at two camps.

"The border protection agencies are fully prepared for the entry into force of the reinforced legal border closure on March 28," said a statement by the interior ministry.

"The purpose of the restrictions is to prevent migrants with an unclear status from moving freely around the territory of the country and the European Union, and to thereby reduce the security risk of migration," the statement said.

Only unaccompanied children under the age of 14 were exempted from mandatory detention in the border camps.

Detainees would receive access to beds, bedding, personal hygiene packages, lockers, continuous hot water, toilets, mass media and telecommunication equipment and religious rooms, according to the statement.

They would receive three meals a day (five meals a day for children under the age of 14) and fruit and dairy products for expectant mothers, mothers with young children and children under the age of 14 years, according to the statement.

The United Nations and rights groups such as Amnesty International condemned Hungary for failing to meet Hungary's international obligations to asylum-seekers when it passed a law earlier this month that led to the camps' development.

Hungary's prime minister says tough border policies are justified given fears of Turkey reneging on a deal to stop the flow of asylum seekers

Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who took a hard-line anti-immigration stance, said the bill was in response to recent terror attacks in Europe carried out by migrants.

Hungary once detained all asylum applicants, but ended the practice in 2013 under pressure from Brussels, the UN refugee agency and the European Court of Human Rights.

The UNHCR said systematic detention would "have a terrible physical and psychological impact on women, children and men who have already greatly suffered".

Refugee rights group the Hungarian Helsinki Committee said 400 asylum-seekers housed in the country's internal camp network faced relocation to the border camps.

A second "smart fence" complete with night cameras, heat and movement sensors, and multilingual megaphones warning against crossing the barrier was also under construction, with completion scheduled by May.

aw/ (AFP)