23/11/2015
Preševo is a transit camp situated approx 10 kilometres from the Macedonian/Serbian border.
Refugees arrive here mainly from Tabanovce (Macedonia) bt train. From there refugees walk 4km to Miratovac.
There is no state refugee relief available for arrivals in Miratovac, refugees are greeted by local volunteers who provide water,tea, boiled eggs and some fruit when available.
Refugees can then board a free bus that delivers them to Preševo.
Preševo transit point operates 24/7, processing and provides the refugees with permission to remain in Serbia for 72 hours only.
From here refugees have two choices, they can pay 15 euros per person to get on the train for a 10 hour journey to Sid on the Croatian/Serbian border, or alternatively they can pay 35 euros per person for a 6 hour travel time to the same destination.
For up to date information on the situation at Preševo look to http://live.w2eu.info/serbia/11/09/situation-at-presevo-macedonian-serbian-border/
Before I arrived in Preševo I had already arranged to meet a volunteer, Jess Collins, who has been on the ground there since September.
I met Jess and her fellow volunteer Ivan (from Ireland, he"s a long way from hom...Tipperary to be exact) in Nis and from there we drove to Preševo.
On arrival Jess and Ivan took me to the volunteer centre, this is where local and international volunteers can sleep, where aid material is stored and logistical issues managed.
From here we went directly down to the transit point at Preševo train station where the camp is situated.
The refugees arriving by bus are driven to the rear of the camp (along side the railway track of the train station) where they then go through control barriers manned by police to then begin the registration process.
After registration (than can be as quick as 30minutes to an hour during the day or as long as 10 hours at night depending on the numbers of people arriving) the refugees can then decide (based on how much money they have) how to move forward to the Croatian/Serbian border.
Various aid agencies are situated within the camp. (see link above)
Again, its brought home to me by being on location here (and many other sites I have visited) that the role of volunteers (almost always exclusively from civil society) is so often overlooked or glossed over by the media and official representatives of aid agencies, while we hear the name of UNHCR and other massive aid groups and their roles in this continuing crisis.
Outside the camp only volunteers are there to give tea, clothing, information to help the refugees and some gifts and activities to the children to distract them a little from the tension and stresses around them....mall things that make a difference to the children, bubbles and chewing gum and friendly people ready to play and talk with them.
Refugees that arrive in Europe are met by official representatives (usually unsmiling harried bureaucrats) and members of law enforcement and security forces. Very rarely are they spoken to and communicated with on a personal human level.
To give due respect and honour, there are exceptions to this of course, I've seen police officers and military personnel extend their remit to help children and families in need, breaking the rules themselves in order to alleviate suffering.
As well as the help and aid volunteers provide on site, they also are there to greet people, talk and interact with refugees in a way that they most probably havent experienced in their usual contact with Europeans since arriving here.
Refugees are generally happy and relieved to find someone, a stranger to them here in Europe, that wants to talk with them, share time playing with their children, or have a bite to eat or share a meal with them.
Volunteering at refugee camps and transit points is a tough call.
Volunteers have limited resources and are more often than not ignored or prevented by big aid agencies from working even more effectively than they can do.
Volunteers wear many hats. They provide water, tea and drinks to people outside camps who are forced to wait in lines for hours. They can provide some medical help to refugees or get the refugees some medical assistance from the professionals in the area. They often run around trying to get money for tickets to help families who have now ran out of money can cannot travel forward. (a key issue as only from Croatia transit becomes free)
Volunteers can appeal to aid agencies on the ground to bend rules, make exceptions and throw away the damned rule book because someone has a real need and volunteers are not shy about putting official aid agency paid staff on the spot by asking some direct hard questions.
"What if this were your child?"
"What if this were your wife?"
Personalising the crisis on the ground is important, having someone fight for you, someone being in your corner and having you back can make all the difference.
In the words of Jess:
"There are moments from each night that continue to play over and over again in my mind. The little girl that fell asleep in my arms. Walking with a Syrian woman and talking about how cold it was, how sick everyone was and then being offered a tissue by her as we said our goodbyes. I remember every child I have held in my arms, in order to take the weight off their parents for just a moment and provide a little bit of warmth.
As I perform triage and speak with these very good people, I find my perspectives are changing. Each time I return from Presevo, I find that it becomes a little bit harder to return to a normal routine.”- Jess Collins (Civil society aid worker, a Fulbright ETA living in Niš, Serbia.)
Read her account of transit point Preševo at http://nistomeetyou.com/
