The latest on the migrant crisis in Croatia.
From midnight to 9 pm on Saturday, 6,744 migrants entered Croatia. There are currently 2,921 migrants and refugees accommodated at the temporary reception centre in Opatovac. Since the beginning of the migration crisis, 294,771 migrants and refugees have entered Croatia, reports Vecernji List on November 1, 2015.
The refugees continue to enter Croatia over the former Bapska border crossing, where Croatian and Serbian police are continuing with their good cooperation. The situation there is much better than in was just a week ago. Immediately after entering Croatia, refugees are placed on buses and transported to the camp in Opatovac for registration process. Shortly after, they are transported to the station in Tovarnik and then transported by train to the Slovenian border.
This method of receiving and transporting refugees will continue until Monday when the new winter transit centre in Slavonski Brod should be opened. In accordance with the agreement between Croatian and Serbian interior ministers, refugees will board the trains at the station in Šid in Serbia and go directly to Slavonski Brod. According to the agreement, there will be four daily trains with a total of about 6,000 refugees. The situation will be monitored by members of the Frontex who have already arrived at the border. Starting from Monday, the camp in Opatovac will slowly be put out of operation.
Yesterday, first death occurred among the refugees since the beginning of the refugee crisis in Croatia. While leaving a bus with refugees, a 63-year-old Afghan woman fell ill and subsequently died. Her death was confirmed by a spokesman for Vukovar-Srijem Police Department Domagoj Džigumović who noted that it was a natural death. “Physicians were quick to respond and tried to resuscitate her, but they were not successful. Her family expressed the wish for the body to be buried at the nearest Muslim cemetery. We are going to fulfil their wish, in cooperation with the UNHCR and local government”, Džigumović said.
According to data published by Croatian government on October 27, the refugee crisis had so far cost Croatia around 70 million kuna. The EU has decided to send Croatia five million euros of emergency aid. From mid-September to October 27, 266,265 migrants and refugees passed through Croatia, so the cost of accepting each refugee was about 35 euros.
However, Croatia’s neighbours show much higher costs due to the refugee crisis and therefore expect much greater assistance from the EU. State secretary in the Serbian Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Care Nenad Ivanišević said that their cost per migrant was 82 euros a day and was mostly related to the maintenance and operation of temporary reception centres where migrants receive all the necessary aid, food and clothes. The total current cost for Serbia due to the refugee crisis is 24.6 million euros.
Slovenians have argued that their costs are even higher. After only four days of the refugee crisis in the country, state secretary in the Ministry of Interior Bostjan Šefic said that the cost was 2.3 million euros, or about 110 euros per migrant.
Slovenia and Serbia thus allegedly have higher costs for refugees than Croatia, although in Serbia migrants have to pay for transport from Macedonian to Croatian border, while in Slovenia their route is considerably shorter in relation to transport through Croatia. Germany, the final destination for almost all migrants and refugees, spends about 35 euros per day per migrant. So, compared with Germany, Serbian and Slovenian costs seem overblown, while Croatian costs are similar.
The European Commission, through the Fund for Asylum, Migration and Integration, has so far paid to the member states 48.3 million euros of emergency aid. Most of the emergency assistance has gone to Italy (13.6 million euros), which is the entry point for refugees from North Africa. Through the Fund for the Internal Border Security, most money has gone to Greece – 7.5 million euros.
