Updates from the borders, 07. Oct 2015, 21:30

Hungary

- HELP FOR MIGRATION AID HUNGARY NEEDED!

MigrationAid Hungary needs your help again! "WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF FOOD SUPPLIES WHILE TWICE AS MANY PEOPLE CROSS HUNGARY NOW THAN IN THE PEEK PERIODS A MONTH AGO.

Since asylum-seekers no longer cross Budapest, the refugee crisis is less "visible" and the press also focuses on other topics. We receive less and less donations, our storages are getting empty. At the same time, there are twice as many asylum-seekers by the border areas than they were in peek periods in the Tranzit Zones of Budapest a month ago. They are hungry and thirsty and often have to wait several hours in one train station without supplies. We need your help to be able to provide them with some food and drinks."

- Information about donations from abroad :: migrationaid.net/english.

- Please see regular daily updates about what is needed and how to donate at :: facebook.com/migrationaidhungary and please donate!

- BUDAPEST - Every day you can go to BERKOCSIS STR. 41 on 11:00, just look for the green door to the basement, they are preparing thousands of food packs for Hegyeshalom or sort clothes. If you can bring something, they always need: banana, yoghurt, triangle cheese, cereal bars, chocolate bars, rolls, paprika, apples.

- BEREMEND, MAGYARBOLY - Refugees are continuously passing through Beremend, but all volunteers has been expelled from both border crossing and Magyarboly train station so no help is provided. If you know more, please let us know.

- HEGYESHALOM - Migration Aid's operative team is looking for volunteers at the Hegyeshalom border. Volunteers would be working in team of four in 12 hrs shifts (6am-6pm, 6pm-6am). The volunteers are responsible to take care of the refugees, which primarily includes the distribution of donations and keeping the site clean. Volunteers are leaving daily from warehouse in Verseny utca, Budapest. First car at 4pm which also transports the daily supply and another one at 4am with the volunteers. Please see scheduling of volunteers shift for Hegyeshalom at :: bit.ly/1VueVBD (docs.google).

For more information contact Andras Siewert, Tel.: +36 30 895 1917, E-mail: operations (at) migrationaid.net, :: facebook.com/siewert.org.

- ZAKANY - border crossing still open for providing help to refugees, but only food and water, no clothes/shoes. They are expecting another 6 trains daily, so please deliver some food and water over there.

Refugees at Zakany constantly need water and food for lunchpackets (bananas, apples, sliced bread, sliced cheese, muesli bars), and also your volunteer help is needed. Zakany volunteers set up a twitter account to inform what is needed there :: twitter.com/zakanysolidar, or contact SOSkonvoi, Phone: +43 676 630 94 86 or :: facebook.com/SOSkonvoi or :: soskonvoi.com.

Croatia / Serbia border

BAPSKA - 3200 people since yesterday, the day has been calm and refugees proceeded almost immediately. But huge numbers are expected tonight. Rain is expected so they are collecting as much raincoats as possible.

- Still the main border point for refugees from Serbia to Croatia. Situation is calm during the day (almost no refugees), but is getting much intense during the night. Almost all major NGOs shut down their operations before midnight, but main wave of buses comes between 1-4 AM. So there is an urgent lack of people during the weekdays, or better say, weeknights. Please plan your trips so you can stay few days into the weekdays, not only weekends.

- Czech NGO Clovek v tisni (PIN), which is one of the most respectable humanitarian NGOs, deployed their contact persons in Sid/Bapska. They will not provide help to refugees, only support for volunteers and finance - they already helped with local police. All volunteers in Serbia must fill a short form and be registered to police. We consider this as a very exceptional approach from the police and system is being set up on site to minimize this hassle.

- Raincoats needed. Also 5l and 0,5l water packages, gloves, plastic cups and spoons, lot of black tea bags, duct tape, cookies, chocolate bars, bananas.

- Volunteers needed and welcomed but please be ready for working long and late night. We also ask volunteers not to bring any alcohol. Coordinators are working on code of conduct for volunteers because there has been some cases of violation of acceptable behavior by volunteers.

- Clothes: warm jackets and other warm clothes, gloves, hats, SHOES! (especially 38-44 size, but all sizes are good, especially mens), new SOCKS!, bags (backpacks, ikea bags, plastic waste bags). Also mens trousers - jeans are problematic to fit, please try to collect tracksuits and other loosely worn trousers, also leggins for women. Food in larger quantities is problem to delivery across the border, so please buy it in Serbia/Croatia directly. Don't bring t-shirts and other summer clothes, there is no time tom deliver them at all and they takes space in the storages.

- Help in the area on Serbian side is coordinated by Misa, her number: +420 774 195 786. When arriving on place at Bapska to volunteer on both sides of the border, please report yourself at the organizing team and please obey they instruction.

- Help on Croatian side provided by croatian/international team, volunteers willing to help on Croatian side are asked to fill their availability slots at :: volunteerspot.com/login/entry/676750982095[/urlexto - please log in and you will see how it works.

- Volunteers in the Czech republic could use [urlext http://uprchlici.respublica.cz]uprchlici.respublica.cz to assign their timeslots and offer/demand transport to Croatia/Serbia.

- Volunteers traveling via Hungary/Serbia and Croatia/Serbia border crossings are still experiencing problems at the Serbian customs offices, which does not want to let them in the country without paying custom duties and declarations. Shoes, clothes and large quantities of food are also problem. Always try to reduce amount of aid you carry so it does not seem suspicious, also try to pretend you are not aid workers but just tourists. Cover supplies with your personal belonging and luggage. In case of problems, there is a possibility to leave your supplies at Tovarnik at Croatian side, but the size is limited. Use Tovarnik/Sid border crossing.

- Location of makeshift camp is near Sid at Serbian side, when approaching Sid from west (from Tovarnik) turn left on light, and after 2,5 km turn slightly left when road turns right (fork type of crossroad), then through the fields cca 3,5 km and you arrive on the spot.

- Croatian side is easily accesible via Sarengrad. The most important thing is NOT to stop at Opatovac or Tovarnik and ask anyone there about Bapska because there were causes when locals/police told volunteers not to go to Bapska or that they need accreditation. That is NOT true for Bapska at the moment: people there have talked everything through with the police and they WILL let you through. Please print out map if you don't have GPS. For accommodation there is a big tent, but please bring your own sleeping bags.

- Even when working on Serbian site at Bapska border crossing, try to set permanently Croatian phone operators to stay within EU roaming prices.

Serbian-Macedonian border

- PRESEVO - The situation is very volatile, yesterday was calm, but today again busy. Rainy day today, waiting time rises from 2 hours in the night to 3-4 hours during the day and refugees needs to wait there to get registration for 72 hours stay in Serbia. Some of them get into the transit camp then, but its capacity is small. It seems more help will be needed, approx. 20 volunteers on site now, but some are leaving soon. Volunteers from various teams distributing food, water and tea and also raincoats - they are hard to buy there in large quantities, so please bring them if you can.

- Contacts: Agon from the Youth Office when you come close only: Tel. +381 628 54 94 69 or go directly to the office for instructions or contact Xhelal Hasani from the Center of Solidarity and Advancement Tel. +381 633 74 034, xhelal_hasani (at) hotmail.com when nearby.

- You can also contact Frantisek +420 774 673 864, who has been there for 4 days and is coordinating efforts of Czech team. Call only when trying to locate him on site.

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 :: volunteerspot.com/login/entry/4179297180119 to see what is needed there and to sign up for timeslots.

Other news

- You can follow map with all spots with refugees here :: umap.openstreetmap.fr.

- International organization for migration issued new report about refugee crisis, please read in :: iom.int.

- Archive of these updates could be found at :: pastebin.com/u/michalberg.

- Information about times of arrival of special trains from Tovarnik to Botovo/Zakany are published on twitter account of Croatian government - :: twitter.com/VladaRH.

- Police department in Burgenland (Eastern Austria) has opened a 24hr hotline. Family members who are looking for their relatives can call: +43 591 331 033 33.

- If you are willing to donate money to Czech team in Serbia, you can use my paypal paypal (at) esports.cz and I will move the funds immediately to the people on site. You can also donate donations (at) migrationaid.net for MigrationAid. Thanks to those who already donated!

- Czech only: Odkaz na užitečný manuál pro dobrovolníky :: dobrovolnici.jdem.cz - určitě čtěte před odjezdem. Pro vjezd do Srbska stačí občanka, ale pas je vždycky lepší mít.

- When traveling to help, always take headlight, reflexion vest, good shoes, protective gloves and warm clothes and be prepared for rain. And always try to contact anyone in charge of coordination on site and obey his instructions and forget about any alcohol on site. Please also note that situation may change at any time.

Source M. Bergs Pastebin, 07. Oct 2015, :: pastebin.com/7zxvLMZ3.