Croatia NGOs Dismiss Media Claims of Migrant Invasion

Croatian NGOs working with migrants say they have seen no rise in the number of migrants entering the east of Croatia from Serbia, despite media claims of a massive influx and worries voiced by locals in the eastern border village of Nustar.

Milena Zajovic, from the Zagreb-based NGO Are You Syrous? told BIRN that the number of migrants illegally crossing the border had been more or less the same for months.

"According to our information, there has been no dramatic increase in the number of refugees entering our country these days, and reports of an immigrant 'siege' of Nustar should be attributed to irresponsible sensationalism," she said.

Lovorka Sosic, from another Zagreb-based NGO, the Centre for Peace Studies, agreed, telling  BIRN that their colleagues on the ground said the number of migrants crossing the border in last weeks had not grown much as far as they are aware.

She said the number rose slightly in the last two months, but "the number has remained constant for a while and is not increasing drastically".

The public broadcaster Croatian Radio Television, HRT, reported on Wednesday that locals in Nustar, a village some 20 kilometres from the border with Serbia, were alarmed by an influx of migrants pouring in.

Some of them anonymously told HRT that they saw these migrants daily near their homes, and accused the police of covering up the issue of numerous migrants strolling in the nearby forests.

Police have rejected the claims, saying the number of migrants taking the so-called Balkan Route from the Middle East to the West via the Balkans had decreased.

The municipality of Nustar also said there is no need for panic, and added that better communication with the local population was needed.

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