The train and bus system for refugees taking the Balkan Route is very efficient and we've found it hard to keep up with the refugees we've met on our journey.
At Šid, a town on the Serbian border with Croatia, trains and buses from camps near the Macedonian border in the south are timed to arrive just a few minutes before the train to Croatia leaves, so that refugees don't have to wait for long in the cold.
The Serb official at the Šid Transjt Camp forcefully told us "The Serbian Government is absolutely in charge here. The UNHCR, UNICEF and MSF are just minor partners". Those agencies clearly had a significant presence however. There were hot showers, supplies and medical teams there.
The Serbian Police were also present and prevented us from entering the camp. They told us that they recently caught smugglers trying to enter a nearby camp posing as humanitarian volunteers. If true, it's a reminder of how refugees need to be protected along their journey from people trying to take advantage of them.
There's no doubt that the camps along the route are increasingly professionalised and securitised, with independent volunteers finding it difficult to get permission to work at them.
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