Summary of the situation
Throughout the year, Europe is experiencing an unprecedented population movement, requiring a response on a scale unseen since World War II. Most vulnerable migrants travel via Turkey to Greece, and continue their journey on the Western Balkans migratory route (through the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia) towards central, western and northern Europe (Austria, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland as the main countries of destination). This humanitarian crisis affects nearly all of Europe with around 30 National Societies providing immediate and longer-term relief to the migrants.
Since the beginning of 2015, more than 744,000 migrants have moved through Europe. More than 3,400 people have died or gone missing at sea. The most typical countries of origin are Syria, Afghanistan, Eritrea and Iraq. The vulnerable people on the move are in need of shelter, food and water as well as first aid and medical care. The onset of the cold weather and the approaching winter are a great humanitarian concern. Currently, the IFRC is scaling up its response to meet the migrants’ needs through individual, country-based Emergency Appeals and DREF operations.
Emergency Appeal operations are in progress in Italy, Greece, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Hungary. The evolving situation is continuously monitored and the needs of the migrants are (re)assessed regularly so as to best position the support provided to those in need. As a result of this, the Emergency Appeals in Greece, Italy and Serbia have been revised, and an operations update was issued in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
At the beginning of October 2015, DREF operations were launched in Croatia and Slovenia to assist the National Societies` response.
Highlights
Despite deteriorating weather conditions, sea arrivals in Greece and onward movement on the land through the Western Balkans have been continuing.
Transfers and registration processes in several locations were delayed by a very high number of arrivals and transits as well as bad weather, leading to tensions in several places, particularly in Greece, Croatia and Serbia.
Lately, the national authorities along the route (e.g. Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia) have limited the number of people crossing their borders at a given time increasing thereby the amount of people waiting for more than 12-24 hours in various countries. This increases their vulnerabilities as many migrants lack adequate clothing, and the shelters are not always properly heated for the colder weather, and leads to frustration among those who have to wait.
Due to the finalized fence constructions between the Hungarian-Croatian border, increased numbers of migrants are arriving in Croatia and Slovenia.
Austria has also started the erection of technical barriers near its border with Slovenia.
Some areas (like the border between Greece and Turkey, and the one between Greece and Bulgaria) may turn into alternative routes for migrants, especially during the winter, when crossing the sea would be more challenging.
Preparations for the winter are ongoing in the reception facilities and at the transit sites.
On 25 October 2015, EU and Western Balkans’ leaders met to discuss refugee flows along the Western Balkan Route. A 17-point plan of action was adopted, including measures to increase reception capacity.1
On 2-3 November 2015, the Secretary General of the IFRC, Mr. Elhadj As Sy paid a visit to Greece where he met with the leadership of the Hellenic Red Cross, and visited the Eleonas accommodation centre in Athens where the Red Cross is delivering relief items. During his visit, Mr. Sy met with Dr. Ioannis Mouzalas, Alternate Minister for Immigration Policy; Mr. Ioannis Amanatidis, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Andreas Xanthos, Minister of Health; and Mr. Yiorgos Katrougalos, Minister of Labour. They discussed the ongoing situation and the work of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. The Hellenic Red Cross and the IFRC are working closely with the Greek Ministry of the Interior and Administrative Reconstruction, the Greek Ministry of Health and the local authorities to ensure a coherent response.
Back in April 2015 the European Council had called for an international summit to discuss migration issues with African and other key countries concerned. This summit will now take place in Valletta, Malta, on 11 and 12 November 2015 at the Mediterranean Conference Centre. The conference will build on existing cooperation processes between Europe and Africa, particularly the Rabat and Khartoum processes on migration, and the EU-Africa Dialogue on Migration and Mobility. The IFRC will participate as an observer at the summit.
In the context of the migration response plan, a number of new IFRC positions have been opened and partially filled with the valuable support from PNSs, which include Disaster and Crisis Response Delegates (2 persons), an Emergency Communications Delegate, a Water and Sanitation Delegate, a Resource Mobilization surge capacity and a Logistics Delegate deployed to the IFRC Regional Office for Europe. A Relief Delegate was selected and deployed to support the operations in Greece. A significant number of additional positions are in the pipeline due to the on-going operational scale-up.