Publish Date: 13 September 2015 - 11:57

BELGRADE, Sep. 13 (MNA) – Serbia announced that expects the passage of about 23,000 undocumented immigrants through its territory this week, as part of the unstoppable flow of people mostly from countries in conflict.

According to estimates announced this weekend by official sources, some 23,000 foreigners could cross this country, part of the so-called Balkan route through which pass those seeking to get to Western Europe.

In recent weeks, thousands of people crossed countries like Bulgaria, Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and Austria, and although some still remain in them, most want to reach the richer nations of the so called Old Continent, especially Germany.

The flow has caused internal conflicts in the states as well as altercation externally, since some countries criticized Hungary for its hostile treatment of migrants.

On Friday, Pope Francis received President of Serbia Tomislav Nikolic with whom he discussed the current immigration crisis and the need to find a solution to this problem. The two sides discussed the situation of refugees coming to Europe to escape war, famine and poverty in countries such as Syria and Iraq.

Meanwhile, the European Commission yesterday proposed a plan to host 160,000 asylum seekers, but countries such as Denmark have already announced that they do not intend to participate in the program.

The International Organization for Migration said yesterday that a total of 432,761 undocumented have reached European shores by sea so far this year, well above the 219,000 recorded by land and sea in 2014.

The report added that at least 2748 migrants died in tragedies when during the journeys, an inexact number because only includes data that survivors have been able to testify. Greece continues to be the main point of arrival with 309,356, followed by Italy with 121,139 and Spain with 2166.

Most of the undocumented immigrants come from countries in conflict, such as Syria or Iraq, or very poor like Somalia, which is why many of them have reasons to justify an application for asylum.
 

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