http://kontrapress.com/fotogalerija/album.php?kat=Antifa%C5%A1izam&url=B... INFOS (Quelle: Refugee Help Map (tägliche Updates von den Brennpunkten): https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=zddfRUtGScOc.kQBgTQcoV5FM&hl=en_US) Šid/Berkasovo/Bapska Croatia border crossing Updated at 21/10 15:27 CET Nr. of refugees 2000 a day; 2500 now 100 people in Belgrade waiting for the bus to Sid now. 9:30 URGENT!! 2500 people have broken border at bapska and surely are being met with aggressive military and police.
People are keeping on walking not understanding the process. In the camp people must wait for buses. It's not possible to get on a bus without going through the registration process. English, Arabic and Farsi speakers are needed now! Red Cross is in charge for distributing supplies. Orange and blue vests can be asked for assistance to find families.
The border was open during the day on 20/10 for organized transport.. Weekend is covered by lot of volunteers, but weekdays are more needed so prepare your way during the week if you can. Place for children to play with has been set up and also some musicians appeared, so the situation got better when volunteers have enough time for such an non-essential activities.
Croatian police set up army tents in the waiting area so now all the area is covered. Rain is expected for next two days.
Buses come from Presevo or Belgrade some 300 m from the border on small crossing where they turn around, where refugees go off the buses, pass numerous stands of various Serbian and international humanitarian aid groups and initiatives, mostly devoted Czech volunteers by whom this whole point is also coordinated, with usually hardly or no Serbian police at sight at all. After those 300 m comes the border with Croatian police and refugees go through couple of big military tents lined and attached together in case of bigger queue and rain and after the tents immediately there's a bus turning point where police escorts them to buses, usually in 2 lines, or sometimes in 1 line, always giving advantage to the most needed.
In case of urgent medical cases police calls ER ambulance and they dispatch those people ASAP to Opatovac or further (Vukovar hospital, etc.). Service of Czech team is continuous.
Situation is calm during the day, but is getting much intense during the night. Refugees are provided with some Red Cross items at the crossing. Then come a lot of volunteers and finally UNHCR and Red Cross. Volunteers reported that Red Cross is not caring about the situation as it should. In addition, police officers would prefer refugees went back to Syria.
There is an urgent lack of people during the weekdays!, or better say, weeknights. Please plan your trips so you can stay few days into the weekdays, not only weekends. Czech NGO Človek v tísni (http://www.clovekvtisni.cz/en), which is one of the most respectable humanitarian NGOs, deployed their contact persons in Shid/Berkasovo/Bapska. They have experiences working in Serbia, contacts, speaks local language and know everything about all paperwork and bureaucracy and are going to help with this. They will not provide help to refugees, only support for volunteers - including financial aid for purchasing food. This will be a huge help, as there has been some days when volunteers had lack of food supplies, when it had to be purchased only from private donations. All volunteers in Serbia must fill a short form and be registered to police, our volunteers went through the registration today and it is only a small form. System has been established to deliver all forms to police station in Shid via one person.
Refugees are brought here by Serbian buses and then moved further by Croatian buses - to Opatovac transit camp (for registration with very rare fingerprinting, and eventually some rest or medical treatment) and to trains and buses which takes them to Hungarian border. Supply needs 5l and 0,5l water packages, gloves, plastic cups and spoons, lot of black tea bags, duct tape, cookies, chocolate bars, bananas, juices, children chocolate, small juices .kids snacks/muesli bars. *** + raisins, dry dates and figs and apricots, peanuts Rain coats. Gloves, hats, SHOES! (especially 38-44 size, but all sizes are good, especially mens), scarfs, new SOCKS!, bags (backpacks, ikea bags, plastic waste bags), blankets, and warm children's clothing. Also mens trousers - jeans are problematic to fit, leggings for women. diapers and hygienic products ***Food in larger quantities is a problem to delivery across the border, so please buy it in Serbia directly. If you are able to deliver diesel generator, outdoor wiring and lights, please do it. Also set of walkie-talkies (4-8) will be really helpful.
Volunteer need VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!! Universal coordinating number for Bapska/Berkasovo - +381 649 366 029. When arriving on place, please report yourself at the coordination team and please obey the instructions. Volunteers from the Czech republic are asked to use http://uprchlici.respublica.cz to assign their timeslots and offer/demand transport to Croatia/Serbia. +420 720 552 888 Jan Pinos is the contact person for journalists. Room at local hotel has been rented and 10 volunteers could have a rest and take shower there between shifts, a house has been rented starting 21/10 for this purpose by Czech "People in need" NGO (PIN). Large coordination meetings of all NGOs on the place (UNHCR, Red Cross, Operation Mercy, World Vision, MSF) are being held twice a week to better coordination of all efforts, supplies and medical aid. Volunteers are now allowed to cook for themselves, so you can bring you camping cooker and other stuff to feed yourself and your volunteer mates. There are being held efforts to rent single house for volunteers, but still no luck. All volunteers in Serbia must fill a short form and be registered to police. System has been established to deliver all forms to police station in Šid via one person. Volunteers needed and welcomed but please be ready for working long and late night. We also ask volunteers not to bring any alcohol. When arriving on place at Berkasovo to volunteer, please report yourself at the organizing team and please obey they instruction. Your help is still needed - Czech team on Serbian side will use your help. Help in the area on Serbian side is coordinated by Misha, her number: +420 774 195 786. Coordination number +381 649 366 029. Volunteers traveling via Hungary/Serbia and Croatia/Serbia border crossings are experiencing problems at the Serbian customs offices, which does not want to let them in the country without paying custom duties and declarations. Shoes, clothes and large quantities of food are also problem. Some foreign cars or vans full of aid managed to pass through the border crossing Tovarnik by simply being honest, but it's more a question of luck, depends which customs officer is currently on duty and how charming or witty are you.
Border crossing Ilok-Bachka Palanka would demand a longer detour to cross Danube again so no one tried their luck there, although the story is same as for Tovarnik. Smaller border crossings Principovac 1 and 2 and Neshtin (all around Ilok) can be used only by empty cars, not full ones, as told by Serbian customs police officer on Principovac on 10.10. Always try to reduce amount of aid you carry so it does not seem suspicious, also try to pretend you are not aid workers but just tourists. Cover supplies with your personal belonging and luggage. In case of problems, there is a possibility to leave your supplies at Tovarnik at Croatian side or Ilacha near Tovarnik or Bapska (contact Luka for those three on +385 98 215 091), or in international volunteers' warehouse tent in Opatovac, next to the camp, but the size is limited. Use Tovarnik/Shid border crossing. All surrounding border crossings are now open for transit, check the recent status on www.hak.hr/en Location of makeshift camp is near Sid at Serbian side, when approaching Sid from west (from Tovarnik) turn left on light, and after 2,5 km turn slightly left when road turns right (fork type of crossroad), then through the fields cca 3,5 km and you arrive on the spot. Croatian side is easily accesible via Sarengrad and Bapska village and border police will maybe just let you through if you wear a reflective vest and walk by, saying you're a volunteer, but it can only be done walking with no cargo at all (or just things in your backpack) and still it's a big risk, so rather come via Tovarnik and Sid. Please print out map if you don't have GPS. When working on Serbian site, try to set permanently Croatian phone operators to stay within EU roaming prices. Be aware that it's a borde