Research visits to the Serbia-Hungary border | May 2023

An abandoned "milk factory" makeshift camp in the border region

From May 20-26, Claudio Minca, Danica Šantić and I undertook research in Serbia, with the aim of studying the informal mobilities of migrants along the Balkan Route, and to visit camps in the northern border region of Serbia.  

Danica Šantić facilitated the visits to the three main government-run camps in Subotica, Sombor and Kikinda. In addition to meetings with Commissariat representatives, we had the opportunity to visit various facilities and collect data on the presence of migrants along the border arc that stretches from Croatia to Romania. Our trip continued in areas characterized by the presence of makeshift camps  along the border and near the town of Sombor.  

This visit to the north of the country was preceded by brief fieldwork in Pirot and near the eastern border, another strategic crossing point along the Balkan Route that has recently seen a significant presence of people on the move arriving from Bulgaria.  

Additionally, the trip to Serbia allowed for a series of formal meetings with representatives of international institutions, such as the Delegation of the European Union in Belgrade. We also had a fruitful meeting with a representative of the local NGO klickActiv, which provides legal assistance to asylum seekers in Serbia, before departing for Trieste.