My first week in Tabanovce

In the village of Tabanovce, around 10 kilometers from the city of Kumanovo, there is a refugee camp in which currently around 120 migrants live. Most of them have been there for months without any freedom of movement. The situation is the result of Macedonia closing its borders in March 2016 and hence blocking the route for migrants to pass from Greece to Serbia and from there on to EU countries. Since March a couple of hundred migrants are stuck in camps in Gevgelija (in the south of Macedonia, close to Greek border) and Tabanovce. The migrants who have chosen to seek asylum in Macedonia, have recently been admitted to transit centers in Skopje where conditions are slightly better for them. However, the majority of the people in the camps do not want to seek asylum in Macedonia as their plan is to continue to Germany or another Western European country where they might have family or other ties.

Last week, as part of LEGIS-CID co-operation (to know more about what LEGIS is doing with the refugees, follow them on Facebook!), I (finally!) get to visit Tabanovce with LEGIS local volunteers and staff twice; Thursday was mainly about seeing around but Friday I spent several hours in the camp and get to talk to people and play with the children. The entries and exists of the camp are controlled and only persons holding a pass can entry. The camp itself is a in a sort of a field practically in the border of Serbia, close to the railway station and some private houses. The migrants live in containers and many NGOs have their own containers in which they organize activities like games for children, sports for adults, language lessons etc. Currently the camp is quite empty and the facilitates seem to be quite all right. The biggest problem is that many people have spent up to seven months in the camp so they are very frustrated of the situation; they are kept almost like prisoners without freedom of movement, without being able to work or go to a proper school (about half living in the camp are children) and no one knows how much longer the situation will last.

People who are not used to work with migrants and refugees often think it is something scary or really hard psychologically to visit refugee camps or transit centers. And yes, hearing the stories of their journeys can be really tough and it definitely is frustrating not being able to help them achieve what they want. But the truth is, people are rather similar no matter where they come from and what their situation is; when spending time with them you often end up talking about everything and nothing like with anyone else. The children enjoy running around, playing games, drawing and painting, like children do all over the world - but these kids seem to be particularly happy about the activities as there is not endlessly to do in the camps and because it helps them to forget about the situation even for a while. And that is what we as volunteers are in the camps for. :)

Paintings by children in Tabanovce 2016





























Jannika