SHORT-TERM SOLUTION BECOMES HOME FOR THE STRANDED

Presevo camp, on the edge of a small border town in southern Serbia, has been transformed over the past year.

Created on the site of a former factory in response to the thousands of refugees passing through the country en route to Germany, the Serbian government and aid agencies established the base as a “one stop centre” or transit camp.

Refugees previously stopped here briefly, were given a change of clothes and a meal and perhaps spent the night, and then were sent on their way along the socalled “West Balkan Route” on speciallychartered buses and trains.

By February 2016, when I first visited the camp, a couple of UNHCR tents had been erected to house the refugees in armystyle bunks, while the Danish government had just paid for the refurbishment of some former offices to turn them into dormitories, complete with bunk beds and bathroom facilities – at that point, the facility was still to be opened.

But in March last year, everything changed. Countries surrounding Serbia closed their borders to refugees, meaning thousands became trapped within the former Yugoslavian nation, which is not yet in the European Union.

The Presevo camp and others like it around Serbia quickly became permanent settlements – housing more and more refugees travelling illegally over the border from Bulgaria.

Now, the temporary dormitories 0 Social and educational activities are on offer in the camp have become permanent homes. Some refugee families have lived here for more than a year. Families sleep in double bunk beds – dozens of them to a room – many of which have been cordoned off in an attempt at privacy by hanging blankets or sheets between the bunks.

Plastic carrier bags containing perishable food items hang from the windows in place of a fridge.

Permanent structures such as a shiny play park for the children in the camp have been erected, while a doctor’s surgery manned by local Serbian health centre staff treats around 140 patients every day.

At both Presevo and a camp just 16 miles away in Bujanovac, social and educational activities are on offer, organised by charities and non-governmental organisations to keep the refugees occupied.

In one building at the back of the Presevo site, refugees are learning German, while a poster advertises “Gymnastics for Women” and “Drawing and Ping Pong for Men”.

“Ich kaufe Gemuse”, the refugees are repeating in their German lesson – “I buy vegetables”.

At Bujanovac, around 16 miles north, educational activities for children are tightly scheduled – from “psychomotor learning activities” such as drawing, painting and playing with clay for younger children, to computer-related activities for teenagers.

In an effort to help the refugees – many of them naturally opposing communities on home ground – live together harmoniously, activities even involve Kurdish lessons, taught by a refugee, and cultural awareness events.

“Occupational activities were planned for certain number of people, but interest was so huge that we had to make several groups,” says Dragana Levicanin, project co-ordinator at Serbian NGO Philanthropy, which runs projects funded by UK charity Christian Aid.

“People want to be busy. In Serbia we have a quote: ‘Idle brain – devil’s playground.’

“Once they start with some everyday activities, people get back to calm thoughts, their focus is not on their current status, but rather on something they made, finished, or produced.”