What happened: On 24.07.2018, at 11:30 h, at the railroad Tabanovce-Preshevo, police officers discovered
eight persons – migrants from Iran. These persons reported that on the same day, after they illegally entered
North Macedonia from the Republic of Greece, at about 200 meters distance from the borderline with R.
Serbia, two unknown persons, threatening them with a knife, proceeded to rob them, depriving them of 8000
EUR. The team of the Red Cross provided the migrants with medical aid. Measures are taken to fully clarify the
case.
Date, time and location of the incident: 24.07.2018, at 11:39, at the railroad Tabanovce-Preshevo
Source of information: MoI’s daily newsletter.
Victim(s) involved: eight persons – migrants.
Type of crime(s): Robbery (Article 237 CC),
Perpetrator(s): several unknown perpetrators.
Brief description of the event with bias indicators: In this incident the bias motive is the status of a migrant-
refugee, as the victims were migrants, and the bias indicators are:
1. Status of a migrant/refugee – the victims are migrants/refugees;
2. Pattern of previous incidents – attacks of migrants, especially in the vicinity of a railroad, have been also
registered before
Status of the case: Unknown.
Response of the local authorities: By the time this report was finished, there was no response from MoI.
(We got a response from MoI in January 2019, they have taken record of the case, but say it is not under their
jurisdiction)
Impact on the victims and the community: This incident calls into question the ethnic co-existence of the
two major ethnic communities in the country.
