We’ve been working in Serbia since 2016, providing refugees and migrants with access to healthcare.
As of July 2017, some 5,000 refugees and migrants are still stranded in Serbia. The vast majority of them exist in legal limbo, with no way to move forward and no way to return to their home countries.
An estimated 62% of the asylum seekers come from Afghanistan, 13% from Iraq, 12% from Pakistan and 5% from Syria. Although many are currently residing in government run shelters, women and young people, especially unaccompanied minors, remain especially vulnerable.
In Serbia, it is extremely difficult for refugees to access healthcare, and Serbian authorities and NGOs are struggling to cope with the large numbers of people in need. Doctors of the World works to support the health infrastructure in the country by providing primary healthcare out of mobile clinics in Sid, Subotica and Belgrade.
Our teams consist of doctors, nurses, psychologists, and interpreters. According to DotW’s Dr. Bojana Bojanic working in Belgrade, most patients come from the camps near Belgrade or the city’s streets.
Serbia is doing its best to aid refugees and migrants who pass through the country, but the sheer size of the refugee population threatens to overwhelm the country’s financial resources and infrastructure capacity especially as neighboring nations have closed their borders.
This is why international aid, such as the medical and basic needs care that Doctors of the World provides to refugees across Serbia, is crucially important. Without access to care or adequate shelter, thousands of people are increasingly susceptible to illness.