SERBIA/CROATIA/SLOVENIA Friday 23:50 evening update

SERBIA/CROATIA/SLOVENIA 23/10/2015 Friday 23:50 evening update

EUROPE, PLEASE ACT! - An Open Letter to the Governments of Europe from Volunteers - http://www.europeact.eu

50+ groups of volunteers across the Europe connected to common call to action. Please read it, share it and urge your government to act now! #europeact

Thank all of you who already urged your government to act. Desperate pictures are flowing from the region and your voice is needed to be heard!


ORGANISATION CHANGES: starting today, our team providing updates will be expanded by Dalimil Petrilak and Martin Pridal. Friday and Saturday will be served by Martin Pridal - so feel free to contact him on Facebook with any news - https://www.facebook.com/martin.pridal.5

CROATIA/SERBIA
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BERKASOVO/BAPSKA (Serbian side) - Situation tense, big groups of refugees (hundreds) come for a few hours and then leave for Croatia. Nights are worse than days. Last night 1500 refugees slept over in Berkasovo in tents/blankets, but very cold outside. Many of NGOs left the place. House has been rented in nearby village by Czech team to provide shelter and shower for volunteers to take a rest during their work. Bigger hangar-tents from Serbian police were built. Tents, warm clothes, shoes and raincoats still needed there, as well as volunteer help. Czech team asks to be strengthened, medical help will be a plus. Please bring your own headlight and high-visibility jacket. Contact number  +381 649 366 029.

BAPSKA (Croatian side) - German and other volunteers in place, but not enough. Also doctors needed. Not easy to deliver food or drinks, as police is quite nervous and forbidding some volunteers to help. Red Cross not much helpful. Contact number - Bastian: +41 79 227 05 95

OPATOVAC - 1600 refugees in the camp in the afternoon. Situation changing very often. Further boarding trains at Tovarnik continues, and also many buses from Opatovac went to Slovenian borders. Volunteer help needed in Opatovac, and supplies, especially shoes (size 39-45), socks and children & men jackets.

PRESEVO - A lot of people are waiting in the line in Presevo. There is cold out there. Many cases of sick people. Food, also warm clothes, tents, sleeping bags needed. Also the number of volunteers decreased in the last two days, so new volunteers needed desperately. Doctors (MSF) would be appreciated. Several organizations providing medical help and special room for children care.  11 000 refugees were registered in the past 2 days. Contact number +381 642 653 479


BEOGRAD - Volunteers helping at Miksaliste (Mostarska 5, Beograd) set up also their VolunteerSpot account and are asking anyone who is in Belgrade to sign up for various tasks needed to be done there. Visit http://www.volunteerspot.com/login/entry/4179297180119 to see what is needed there and to sign up for timeslots.

SLOVENIA/CROATIA
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The main crossing seems to be Rigonce/Harmica, followed by Macelj/Gruškovje and Središče ob Dravi (200 refugees only in the last 24 hrs). All 3 places should be served by Slovene Philanthropy, contact: +386 41654726. There are other organisation there, including ADRA, RED CROSS (not too cooperative).

RIGONCE / HARMICA - This appears to be the main route at this moment. Refugeees arrive by train (every few hours) to Kljuc Brdovecki and walk 1,5 km to the border.  There are currently 40 volunteers ready to help. Up to 7 000 refugees came today. Harmica/Rigonce borders crossing closed for regular traffic.

DOBOVA - Some refugees stay in this camp, roughly 2 km from Rigonce. Others cvontinue to Brezice.

BREZICE - Volunteers are allowed to help, but patience and perseverance needed (some problems during the day, easier to help in the evening/night). Red Cross and ADRA help there,but apparently not everybode gets food/water. Please bring blankets and/or sleeping bags, anything to keep them warm! Slowly the police drives them by buses to Sentilj to the Austrian border. Volunteers can enter behind police station as long as they register at police station first and communicate with police. Contact number is +41791929040.



SPIELFELD/SENTILJ -  Situation even more chaotic today than yesterday, thousands coming. During the night Austria closed the border for some time to manage the flow. There were 2000 refugees waiting in Sentilj today in the evening to pass the Slovenian/Austrian border. Volunteers needed, bring people, drinks and food! The Slovenia/Austria border crossing at Spielfeld is now the main entry to Austria. Red Cross and Army organise the welcome camp, heated tents are available - but not enough. Volunteers are very needed and are swiftly integrated by the Red Cross Einsatzleitung. Right now a few more medical doctors would be very much welcome to offer a more continuous service. In Obenaus we invite volunteers to come for a rest, it's just five minutes away from the border station Spielfeld. They also offer a few places for volunteers to stay over. Contact: +436801327177 or +436803060900.

For Slovenia-related updates throughout the day, follow Protirasistična fronta bez meja on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Protirasistična-fronta-brez-meja-962830080456004/



OTHER NEWS
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- Thousands of refugees are reported to be on their way from Greece, so the flow will continue for some time for sure.

- Do you have enough time and sources to travel to Lesvos, Greece, where situation is more desperate? Read this volunteering guide to Lesvos: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KBPNoW1fNvDdmmzCyc3yMBBGJ5V21s-EP0yxQY4K990/edit

- Supplies which are needed almost at all places: warm and/or waterproof clothing (jackets, pullovers), blankets, shoes, hats, gloves, socks, dry and canned food, fruit; food for babies and milk. Generally, anything what could make them at least little bit warm and help them of hunger.

- Also SIM cards for those who has to wait would be great so they can contact their relatives.

- Be prepared, that individual volunteers could have problems accessing refugees to provide help. Please always try to communicate UNHRC, Red Cross and/or police on the site before providing help, however, they may not be welcoming your there, so be polite and patient and don't get refused. This is the common approach of Red Cross at many places, and eventually it was always possible to find a common way. Problems are reported in communication with Slovenian police, help is easier on Croatian side of the border.

- Supplies and money donations are also being collected in the Social Centre Rog (Trubarjeva 72, Ljubljana) and in Maribor (at the parking lot in front of the railway station, where they set up a container.)

- Large amounts of supplies could be picked up also in Zagreb, please call Lejla +385 91 456 77 05  if you are able to bring any supplies from Zagreb to any of the borders.

- UNHRC released a report, which states that number of refugees crossing to Greece this year just hit the half million mark: http://www.unhcr.org/56263d536.html

UN high commisioner for human rights urges Czech Republic to stop detention of migrants and refugees http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/Media.aspx?IsMediaPage=true&LangID=E

- and don't forget to act: http://www.europeact.eu