Djurovic: Potential new migrant crisis no threat to Serbia

BELGRADE - In case a new migrant crisis breaks out due to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East, it will not be a direct threat to Serbia, Asylum Protection Centre Director Rados Djurovic told Tanjug on Wednesday.

"In case the countries that are now a part of the system restricting migration give in and decide to let all people through, they would perhaps reach us, too, but that is an unlikely scenario," Djurovic said.

He said the situation in the Middle East was not encouraging and that there was major potential for the war to spill over beyond the territories presently affected by conflicts.

In case of a war in Syria and Lebanon, refugees would likely head to Turkey, he said.

"I would like to remind you that Turkey, too, has a barrier system it has developed, and it also has border controls and strictly controls the section of the border with Syria and, in that sense, the initial pressure would be on Turkey and only later, in the period to come, perhaps on Europe, too," he said.

He said the EU's response to a new migrant crisis would definitely differ from that in 2015.

This has also been demonstrated by policies and practices on the ground, from Turkey to EU member states, Djurovic said, adding that borders were being reinforced and that a restrictive approach to migration was in place in order to stop it.