What happened: Five people wearing camoufl age military uniforms and masks assaulted and robbed
a group of eighteen migrants. During the robbery, one of the assailants used a fi rearm, wounding one
of the victims in the leg. The victims, however, managed to overpower the assailant with the fi rearm,
took the weapon, and reported the case to the Police.
Date, time and location of the incident: April 16th, 01:00 hrs, village of Studenicani, near Skopje.
Source of information: The electronic media Kajgana.
Victim(s) involved: Eighteen migrants (nationality not specifi ed) ware attacked and robbed, one
Syrian national was injured with a fi rearm.
Type of the crime(s): Robbery (Art.237 CCRM), Heavily bodily harm (Art.131 CCRM), Violence (Art.386
CCRM).
Perpetrator(s): Unknown group of fi ve perpetrators.
Brief description of incident with bias indicators: In this incident, the bias motive is the ethnic origin,
citizenship or language, and the bias indicators are:
2. Difference in ethnic background– the ethnic background of the perpetrators and the victim differ;
the victim is a member of a group (Syrian migrant) that is overwhelmingly outnumbered bymembers
of another group (Macedonian population) in the area where the incident occurred;
Status of the case: Criminal charges submitted.
Response of local authorities: Answering upon a Request for information of public character, the
Ministry of Interior Affairs (MOI) answered that they have submitted criminal charges for the acts of
Robbery and Unauthorized manufacture, holding, mediating or trading with weapons or explosive
materials. The number of suspects is not specifi ed.
Impact on the victim(s) and the community: This incident puts into question the safety of migrants
entering and passing through the country.