Serbia borderscapes
By Dragan Umek
At the end of January this year, Claudio and I travelled to Serbia to conduct research in the northern region of Vojvodina, particularly in areas along the Hungarian border.
We started in the Sombor area, observing significant sites such as Bezdan Road (with its abandoned makeshift camps and squats[Editor1] ), the former government refugee camp and an abandoned industrial complex. We then arrived in Subotica, where the NGO staff who would be guiding us over the next few days greeted us.
On the first day, we visited structures that had been used by migrants in previous years along the railway line. Next, we headed towards the border to visit the ruins of an old farm and an abandoned factory. In the afternoon, we moved on to Srbski Krstur, where a large makeshift camp had previously been located in the woods next to the Tisza River, which marks the border with Hungary.
The next day, we visited two more sites of interest: one site on the outskirts of Belgrade and the area around the government reception centre in Obrenovac. We concluded our five-day journey with a day spent discussing recent developments on the Balkan Route in Serbia with local experts.