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Helping refugees in Belgrade

22 March 2017
The College Humanitarian Aid Group organises a collection of goods for refugees in Serbia
The Balkan route was interrupted in 2016 when Croatia, Slovenia, Hungary and Austria closed their borders to migrants heading for Europe. As a consequence 11,000 people are now stuck in Serbia, including women and children who have had to face the winter season in dire and unacceptable conditions. Several Serbian associations the College is in contact with have denounced this state of affairs, drawing the media’s attention to the plight of these migrants coming mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, as well as Syria.

On January 21 the College Humanitarian Aid social service group organised the dispatch of food and clothing for the asylum seekers currently living behind the Begrade train station and in the Subotica district. After that the students liased with other humanitarian aid groups in Slovenia to continue in their effort to provide some support and comfort to asylum seekers living in extremely precarious conditions.

Following his return from Serbia, Alessandro Metz was invited to the College to share his experience there so that students could  hear from a direct witness what the migrants need the most. The moving stories he told us and the pictures he showed drove home to all of us just how crucial it is to fight indifference and take a stance. Alessandro, who highlighted the far-reaching achievements of collaborations among different groups,  urged students to share their experiencein order to encourage solidarity among their peers with respect to this an other similar situations that exist even closer to the College.