People Smuggling Gangs Clash at Hungary Border + videos

Serbian police are taking strong action against illegal migration.

People smuggling in the Balkans is good business, and experts agree that it's also very lucrative. In 2020 alone, the estimated value of this market at the border between Serbia, Hungary and Romania was around €10 million, the Serbian website of Euronews reports. The Center for Migrants and Asylum Seekers estimates that there are currently 5,000 illegal immigrants in Serbia, and more than 70,000 have crossed the country this year. 

Hungary’s border fence does stop migration

Armed clashes linked to migrants typically take place between rival gangs of illegal migrants, with people smuggling gangs in the background.

The clashes are about territory and clients,

 – Milica Svabics, a staffer at the Belgrade-based NGO KlikAktiv - founded in 2014 with a view to providing help for migrants - told Euronews. She added that the majority of migrants hiding in reception centers and illegal camps are of Afghan or Syrian descent. Ms Svabics also pointed out that the Hungarian border fence is causing the westbound gangs to stall in Serbia and stay in the region for longer periods. And the most obvious way for them to get through this period and explore alternative solutions is to track down the criminal gangs involved in the people-smuggling business.

Despite the fact that there is a significant number of migrants among the people smugglers and that police seize large quantities of weapons and drugs in the camps used by unauthorized migrants, some migrant rights organizations still believe that these people should be allowed free passage to Europe.

According to Klikaktiv's employee quoted before, these individuals should be granted the same freedoms in the EU as refugees fleeing the Ukraine war, including their free movement, the provision of temporary residence permits, work documents and general protection, Ms Svabics says.

Serb authorities comb through everything 

Meanwhile, Serbian police continue their operations along the Serbia-Hungary border with the aim of reinforcing security in the area, with the interior ministry continuing to post pictures and information on its social media on a regular basis. The Hungarian border has become an operational area of sorts since the last clashes between people smugglers at Horgos.

Following that incident, the presence of Serbian special units along the southern side of Hungary's border fence became permanent.

According to information released by the interior ministry, their employees recently identified a total of 165 illegal migrants in Pirot, along the Bulgarian border, as well as in the areas of Kikinda, Subotica and Zombor in northern Vojvodina. Police searched ten facilities and 7372 vehicles, and 33 people were charged with various immigration offences. In addition, four persons were charged with illegal crossing of a state border and on suspicion of involvement in human smuggling.

As we have highlighted in our earlier pieces, during the operations Serbian police found weapons, bullets and drugs in the makeshift forest camps used by illegal migrants.

Police continue their operation

In the coming days, police will step up their effort and involve all police forces in the implementation of this particular operation in order to curb illegal migration, they said in a statement. Their goal is to increase security so that locals feel even safer. 

According to Magyar Nemzet's local correspondent, the number of migrants in and around Subotica has also significantly decreased. Whereas in the past locals could encounter illegal migrants anywhere on the streets, they can hardly see any migrants these days. Despite this, however, they remain uneasy, expressing concerns that the calm is only temporary and that migrants may return once authorities reduce the scope of the crackdown.

According to the leader of the North Bačka district, the police operation has been a sweeping success as there are no more migrants in Subotica. The city's reception center in now empty. Bojan Soralov posted a photo of the derelict building on Facebook, saying: 

After the latest shoot-out between migrants in the Horgos region, Serbia - under the leadership of President Aleksandar Vucic - reacted in a firm and organized manner to the brutal violation of the laws of the Republic of Serbia and the threat to people's safety by illegal migrants in the North Bačka region. In the last nine days, the special forces of Serbia's interior ministry have conducted 24-hour daily patrols in Subotica, focusing mostly on its wooded areas. The effort has led to the arrest of smugglers, the evacuation of all migrants from the city, and has left Subotica’s reception center completely vacant for the fifth consecutive day.

Subotica is now a city that’s off-limits to migrants, Mr Soralov added.

Cover photo: Serb authorities in action against migration (Source: Serbia’s Interior Ministry)