The Serbian authorities reported in late June that there were just over 7,000 refugees in the country, a 55% increase over the same period of the previous year, mostly due to the war in Ukraine.
Just over 7,000 refugees and asylum seekers were in Serbia as of late June, 55% more than the same period of the previous year, the local commissariat for refugees and migration said Monday, June 20.
It added that this rise was largely due to the war in Ukraine and that the reception centers in the country currently hosted 5,082 people. Most were nationals of Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Burundi.
An additional approximately 2,000 are believed to be in the country but not in reception centers.
Thousands of refugees from Bosnia, Croatia, and Kosovo
The commissariat noted at the same time that new conflicts and crises should not overshadow previously existing problems in Serbia, with thousands of refugees from Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia long in the country as a result of the 1990s wars in the former Yugoslavia, as well as the needs and emergencies linked to the 200,000 refugees from Kosovo after the conflict of 1998-1999. These refugees are officially called 'internally displaced', since Belgrade does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state.
During the 2015-2016 migratory crisis, Serbia was crossed by over a million refugees from Central Asia and the Middle East heading along the so-called Balkan route towards western European countries.
Despite border barriers, stepped-up border control, and restrictions introduced after this crisis began, thousands of migrants continue to use this route in the attempt to reach wealthier EU nations.