Moroccans now third migrant population in Serbia

The Republic of Serbia’s Commissioner for Refugees and migration released its annual report confirming the reception centers in Serbia received 120,127 migrants in 2022, including about 9,500 Moroccans.

Migrants residing in these centers come from many countries, but 5 countries represent the majority, as Afghans come in the forefront with a rate of 36.13 percent, then Syrians with 29.19 percent, then Pakistanis with 11.89 percent, and Moroccans with 7.7 percent. 9 percent, followed by Indians with 4.4 percent.

‌Morocco’s crackdown on irregular migration prompted thousands of Moroccans wishing to reach Europe to think of other ways and paths, some of which involve greater risks than riding the “death boats”.

‌Among these routes, the so-called “Balkan route” has emerged remarkably since 2015, as Moroccan candidates for migration mediated the remaining migrants and asylum seekers of various nationalities, the most important of which are Syrians and Iraqis, at the Turkish-Greek borders.

This route still attracts hundreds of thousands of migrants, including Moroccans, which was confirmed by figures issued by the Commissioner for Refugees.

‌‌Residents of these centers, which are scattered throughout the country and are managed by the organization and funded by the European Union for the majority of their needs, benefit from housing, clothing and medical care, and children are enrolled in regular educational programmes.

The Commissioner for Refugees and migration in the Republic of Serbia recorded a decline in the number of days of residence of migrants in these centers, as it averaged 16 days last year, while it reached 30 days in 2021 and 36 days in 2020.

The report confirms that two centers are in a state of closure, and they will not be opened unless they are needed, noting that migrants and asylum seekers currently residing are scattered over 17 other centers.

This path that led hundreds of thousands towards Europe is no longer easy to cross, especially after the European Union signed the “migration agreement” with Turkey, which prompted most of the countries in this path to complicate the matter in the face of migrants by closing their borders and doubling border guards, army and police, as well as building walls and barbed wire fences.