BELGRADE, Serbia — Hundreds of migrants stranded in Serbia set off on foot from Belgrade toward the border with Hungary on Tuesday to protest its closure for most people trying to reach the EU.
Earlier, police intervened in the Serbian capital after the protesters clashed with other groups of migrants who opposed the march. They disrupted delivery of food by aid organizations and blocked traffic near Belgrade’s main railway station. There were no reports of injuries during the scuffles.
Serbian police said in a statement that they would no longer tolerate such incidents, adding “laws have to be respected by all.”
More than 6,000 migrants remain stuck in Serbia following Hungary’s introduction this summer strict limits on the number of asylum seekers allowed to cross into the EU-member country and reinforced a border fence with patrols.
The so-called Balkan migrant route, used by nearly 1 million people fleeing wars and poverty last year, formally closed in March, forcing migrants to use alternative routes and pay hefty sums to smugglers.
On Tuesday, some 400 migrants chanted “Open Hungary Borders” and held banners saying “we don’t need food, water or nothing, we want you to open the borders” as they marched north in a long column from Belgrade along a road leading toward the Hungarian border some 120 miles away.
Most of the migrants, escorted by police cars, appeared to be young men and boys who stand little chance of getting into Hungary or other EU nations.
Hankrim from Afghanistan, who gave only his first name, said he has been on the road for six months, sleeping on roads and parks.
“Excuse me please, Hungarian government, please Hungary, open the border,” he said.
Serbia said Tuesday it would not erect a wire border fence, but would deploy its army to seal off the borders with Macedonia and Bulgaria to stop migrants from coming in.
“We will block the migrants the same way as the countries which did not erect the border fence,” Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said.
Hungary has refused to accept any of the migrants that the EU is trying to relocate from Italy and Greece and on Sunday voters there overwhelmingly rejected any future mandatory quotas for accepting asylum seekers. The referendum was rendered invalid because of low turnout.
