Migrants have attempted to escape from reception centers on the border of Serbia with Croatia and near the capital of Belgrade, with military personnel shooting in the air in a bid to stop them, Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said on Tuesday, adding that no one was hurt
BELGRADE (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st April, 2020) Migrants have attempted to escape from reception centers on the border of Serbia with Croatia and near the capital of Belgrade, with military personnel shooting in the air in a bid to stop them, Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin said on Tuesday, adding that no one was hurt.
According to the minister, the incidents occurred earlier in the reception center at the Adasevci village near the border with Croatia and in the Krnjaca village near Belgrade. He specified that the military was forced to fire warning shots in the air to prevent the migrants from breaking the quarantine that was imposed due to the coronavirus outbreak.
"Unfortunately, we have had several incidents. Yesterday (on Monday), the last one took place when a group of migrants tried to escape. Serbian military personnel acted in accordance with the law and the charter of the service. No one was hurt, but everyone made it clear that when you try to break the law and order, everyone will be stopped by the corresponding use of force," Vulin said, as quoted by the Defense Ministry in a statement.
Earlier in April, the minister said that about 8,800 migrants from the middle East and North Africa in migrant reception centers across Serbia were to be placed under quarantine until the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the state of emergency due to the pandemic was declared on March 15, the control and protection of the centers was fully transferred to the Defense Ministry.
So far, Serbia has registered more than 6,800 coronavirus infection cases, including 130 fatalities and 977 recoveries.
