Outside Belgrade's train station, refugees are sleeping in an abandoned warehouse. Others are camping out along the railroad tracks. The weather in Serbia's capital has dipped to lows of -15 C.
A man carries his child after crossing the Macedonian border into Serbia on Jan. 19, 2016. ( DIMITAR DILKOFF/AFP/Getty Images) Thousands of refugees are stuck in Serbia, unable to cross the border in Hungary. Now aid groups in the country are calling on the European Union and Serbian politicians to step up. Gemma Parkin works with Save The Children UK. She just returned from Belgrade and spoke with As It Happens guest host Helen Mann.
Helen Mann: Ms. Parkin, these refugees stranded outside Belgrade's train station sound as if they are essentially fending for themselves in extremely cold weather. How are they getting by?
Gemma Parkin: They're sleeping in an abandoned warehouse which has got no windows. There's no beds. They've got a few wet blankets between them. They're actually surviving by eating one hot meal a day that's being distributed by a local charity.
Migrants wait in line to receive free food outside a derelict customs warehouse on Jan. 11, 2017 in Belgrade, Serbia. (Srdjan Stevanovic/Getty Images) HM: Tell us what it's like when you walk into that warehouse — this makeshift camp. What do you see? What's the experience like?
GP: The warehouse is probably one of the most shocking things that I've ever seen in the refugee work that I've done over the last few years. When you walk inside, it's full of really toxic smoke because people are keeping warm by lighting fires of rubbish and it really hurts your eyes within 20 minutes. I was speaking to children as young as 12 that have been sleeping in there for three or four months. There's no sewage system. There's no running water. It's extremely cold, wet, damp and dangerous for children.
A migrant walks out of a makeshift shelter at an abandoned warehouse in Belgrade on Jan. 10, 2017. (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images) HM: How many of these people are getting sick?
GP: We are seeing lots of case of respiratory illnesses. Things like scabies, from close proximities of people staying in one space and not having any kind of sanitation. We are seeing cases of frostbite, especially with the children who are the most vulnerable. There's children as young as eight that are sleeping in this abandoned warehouse and they are completely alone without parents. It's an incredibly dangerous position for a child to be in because there's lots of men. You don't know who's likely to prey on a vulnerable child.
HM: Serbia authorities have said they have just added additional temporary asylum space. Will that help with the immediate challenge facing these refugees who are stranded at this camp?
GP: Absolutely. However, there are only 450 spaces available in that new temporary emergency shelter that was opened last weekend. There are still 1,000 people sleeping in this warehouse, including many children. So we need a short-term solution from the Serbian authorities, which is more temporary accommodation, and we also need a long-term solution from Europe, which is support for countries that are bearing the brunt of the responsibility for the refugee crisis.
Migrants eat hot meals received from volunteers outside of derelict warehouses in Belgrade. (ANDREJ ISAKOVIC/AFP/Getty Images) GP: They just want to lead a normal life. People just keep telling me that they just want to be treated like a human.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. For more on this story, listen to our full interview with Gemma Parkin.
