Serbian authorities have reported that an estimated 3,500 migrants are currently living in the country. Nearly 3,000 people live in hosting facilities, while the others are living outdoors, including in parks, according to Vladimir Cucic, the local commissioner for refugees and migration.
Serbia and Italy are looking to strengthen their collaboration in border management and migration flows, as emerged during a meeting between representatives of the two countries in Belgrade.
A group of 40 migrants on Wednesday crossed into Hungary by climbing over a three-meter-high border fence. The men, who were from Afghanistan, were caught by Hungarian police and taken back to Serbia.
The Serbian government has said that 451 unaccompanied minors are currently living in the country. The latest figures released show that there are between 3,500 and 4,000 migrants in Serbia.
Hundreds of Bosnians took to the streets Sunday to protest against potential security and health risks posed by migrants sleeping rough in the western town of Bihac. While Bosnia was mostly spared from the migrant crisis of 2015, locals are not happy that they must care for migrants now.
A 21-year-old Afghan was killed in a migrant feud on Wednesday night in Belgrade center. A second Afghan national was stabbed the following day in a nearby refugee camp.
Serbian authorities said migrant flows into the country from the Balkan route are increasing again. Official figures put the daily number of migrants entering the country between 80 and 100.
Serbian authorities reported that 600 migrants have been apprehended since the start of the year as they were attempting to illegally cross the border hidden in trucks. Meanwhile, migrants are continuing to arrive along the new Balkan route while three charred bodies were discovered in Bihac, Bosnia.
Two Afghan families were forced to leave Hungary and return to Serbia this week after their asylum claims were rejected. The chief of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, has spoken out about the expulsion of the Afghans - among them a pregnant woman - calling it "a serious violation of international law."
UNICEF said that in the first three months of 2019, 3,800 children arrived in Europe by sea and that one in every four migrant arrivals was a minor. In 2018, the figure was one in every five arrivals.
Karox was 15 when he fled to Europe on foot - he was by himself. After years of going from one country to the next, he was eventually granted asylum in Serbia. He's found a job and feels good about his new life.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban praised Serbia for having accepted a border barrier between the two countries. The Hungarian government erected the barrier to stem the continual flow of unauthorized migrants into Hungary, and Orban said Serbia also benefits.