The other side of the street is lined with hotels, cafes and restaurants. Within eyeshot is a construction site for Belgrade Waterfront, a controversial real estate project that will place a high-rise tower and luxury apartments along the Danube River.
Fawad Wakili, an 18-year-old who fled Afghanistan's Kabul four months ago, is among the estimated 700 refugees and migrants sleeping in and around the abandoned buildings behind Belgrade's central bus station.
As of November, the United Nations estimated that more than 6,000 refugees and migrants were in Serbia. [...]
An estimated 361,019 refugees and migrants fled war and economic devastation to reach European shores by boat last year, while more than 5,000 died or are still missing at sea, according to the UNHCR. In 2015, more than a million made the often-fatal journey across the Mediterranean Sea. [...]
As part of the Dublin Regulation protocol, refugees and migrants can be deported to the country they were first registered in upon entering the EU. For Fawad, the prospect of returning to Bulgaria ignites fears of de facto imprisonment, as well as being beaten and robbed by authorities and vigilantes.
In addition to extortion and robbery, rights organisations have decried Bulgarian authorities and civilian-led militias for violence and ill treatment of refugees and migrants.
In December 2015, the Belgrade Centre for Human Rights and Oxfam published a joint report accusing Bulgaria of "extortion, robbery, physical violence, threats of deportation and police dog attacks". [...]
Yet in November, the Serbian Ministry of Labour and Employment issued a statement announcing a ban on NGOs from providing refugees and migrants who live outside of government-recognised camps with food, blankets and clothing.
Yet in November, the Serbian Ministry of Labour and Employment issued a statement announcing a ban on NGOs from providing refugees and migrants who live outside of government-recognised camps with food, blankets and clothing.
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