Serbia sent troops to a border town near the border with Croatia, where hundreds of migrants hope to enter the EU.

The country's defense ministry said President Aleksandar Vucic ordered the deployment of troops to secure three migrant camps near the western city of Sid, which is home to about 1,500 people, mostly from Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Vucic ordered the deployment of the military to protect the local population from alleged harassment and robbery by migrants.

In an interview with Prva, he said that after the state of emergency imposed to combat the COVID-19 spread in Serbia was lifted, migrants began to move outside their camps, committing petty crimes and illegal entry into homes. Thus, people don’t feel safe, he added.

An estimated 4,000 migrants find themselves in distress in Serbia, one of the main transit routes through the Balkans for people fleeing war and poverty.