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Source: RTS
Belgrade, 08/18/2021 – Executive Director of Asylum Protection Center, Radoš Đurović, tells RTS that effects of the situation in Afghanistan, in the context of refugees, will be visible only in a few months. However, he adds, a massive influx of refugees cannot be expected.
Radoš Đurović, being a guest in RTS’s Dnevnik, said that it is unlikely that the situation with the migrant crisis like in 2015 will repeat, when several million refugees passed through the Balkans.
However, he adds, the refugee crisis, due to the situation in Afghanistan, will affect the region. According to him, it is more than clear that we will see images of migration every day.
Đurović indicates that the effects of the current situation in Afghanistan will be visible in a few months, but that it is unrealistic to expect a massive influx of refugees.
“Europe has drawn conclusions from the crisis of 2015 and will do its best to prevent a new crisis. There is the smallest number of drug dealers and extremists in the queues. Those who are normal and moderate, who are fleeing because of punishment, women and children, state officers will flee, university professors, those who cannot imagine life in the caliphate,” indicates the executive director of Asylum Protection Center.
He believes that smugglers and terrorists do not need refugee columns in order to get hold of the locations where they want to do harm.
“Those who have money and a good organization do not need a refugee crisis, their path is far from the column,” says Đurović.
Iran and Turkey as the first choice of refugees
According to Đurović, the influx of refugees is most noticeable in Turkey, where between 500 and 2,000 people arrive daily. Also, the goal of the people from Afghanistan is Iran.
He believes that the numbers will escalate when the Taliban establish power in Afghanistan and eventually release all those who do not want to live under their rule.
Đurović states that it is expected that the wave of refugees will hit the Mediterranean and Turkey, but adds that it remains to be seen how much it will hit Europe.
“The situation is not such that it is an exodus because it is not possible to leave the country, the country is devastated by war, that it is yet to be expected. The Taliban will probably establish a caliphate which means strict religious rules, so life will be almost unbearable for many who were secular. Those who are trying to escape are those who are trying to reach a safe harbor, they will try to go to Iran and Turkey, and they will probably also aim for the EU as a place where it is possible to live safely. The key is in the hands of Turkey, and then the EU,” says Đurović.
The executive director of Asylum Protection Center explains that the states’ rhetoric about the attitude towards refugees is very different from the situation on the field.
“The range from the statements to the behavior of some countries is huge. Refugees from Croatia are being pushbacked to us every day, Albania is trying to stop the influx of refugees, Romania is pushbacking every day. The situation on the field is not changing, there are more and more fences and controls, so probably Europe’s response will be to stop migration, and the countries along the Balkan route will play a significant role in that,” notes Đurović.
