Updates from the borders, 09. Oct 2015, 20:00

Serbian - Macedonian border

- PRESEVO - The situation still chaotic, police is changing conditions for refugees every hour. Waiting time 8 hours for refugees to be registered and main street is getting filled with a long queue again. More help is urgently needed, some volunteers had to leave after a week of hard work. 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, even large trash bags are good for use as raincoats.

- Part of the volunteering team sleeps in rented apartment arranged by Youth Center with 6 beds.

- 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.

Hungary

- DONATIONS FOR MIGRATION AID and for SOS-BAMAKO HUNGARY NEEDED!

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 - "We need tons of: rolls, pepper, apple, cereal bars, chocolate bars, yoghurt, triangle cheese, and plactic bags with carrier to HUNGARY, BUDAPEST 1084, BERKOCSIS STR. 41 (green door) to prepare food for Hegyeshalom."

- ZAKANY - International team including Mirgation Aid at Zákány is trying to organize food supply (by preordering and taking from the closest supermarket at Nagykanizsa and also taking donations from Budapest and elsewhere). Up to 1700 people can get on a train now at Zákány and 8 trains daily these days. Huge efforts are made to cover food costs but volunteers there (led by Babi and Mohamed who started it 3 weeks ago and did not leave since then) are quite out of money now. If anyone could contribute to food costs for refugees at Zákány please do it now. Info is updated daily here :: facebook.com/Migrant-Aid-Support-Europe-1678840242357662 and you can easily donate here :: gofundme.com/kc5jtbx4.

And also: information on trains coming from Tovarnik crossing Botovo, Zákány, Győr for Hegyeshalom is now being collected in the group originally started for train information in Hungary. Please share and feel free to add information on trains (place, time, approximately number of people, special needs) at MiG RAiL :: facebook.com/groups/818175334964977

- Team of volunteers "SOS Budapest - Bamako" is accepting donations for Zakany, contact them at :: facebook.com/Budapest-Bamako-SOS-Refugee-161590304178147, where you also can see what is needed there.
Refugees at Zakany constantly need water and food for lunchpackets (bananas, apples, sliced bread, sliced cheese, muesli bars), also baby food and diapers. Please donate and help them. You can also send money via :: gofundme.com/sosrefugee.

- 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.

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

Croatia - Serbian border

- BAPSKA - Thousands of refugees during night and day. Yesterday's rumors about clearing the site did not fulfill, service of Czech team is continuous. Situation is calm during the day, but is getting much intense during the night. For weekend, there are enough volunteers, so play your trip for weekdays or continue down to Presevo.

- All volunteers in Serbia must fill a short form and be registered to police, our volunteers went through the registration today and it is only a small form. System has been established to deliver all forms to police station in Sid via one person.

- 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.

- 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.

- Volunteers in the Czech republic could use :: 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.

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

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

- If you are on the road and need to know which refugee areas have urgent needs please check www.refugeemap.com, which is updated daily by a team of volunteers. If you are online regularly and could contribute in updating new spots and helping field volunteers this way, please contact them at :: facebook.com/RefugeeMap

- You can follow map with all spots with refugees here :: umap.openstreetmap.fr/cs-cz/map/refugee-crisis-eu_55091#6/46.883/20.314

- International organization for migration issued new report about refugee crisis, please read at :: iom.int (pdf).

- 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 donation (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 :: pastebin.com/KtYJBviB, 09. Oct 2015.