At Greece’s blockaded border with Macedonia, 10,000 people who arrived hoping to start new lives farther west and north in Europe are settling instead into lives in limbo, sleeping in tents in mud and rain as they wait to find out what happens next.
They fled war and poverty in places like Syria and Iraq, took dangerous boat trips across the Mediterranean from Turkey to Greece, and made it as far as the border before being stopped by a razor-wire fence that critics of European Union policy call the continent’s new Iron Curtain.
The policy is meant to stop a repeat of 2015, when a million people traveled across the Mediterranean in dinghies and small boats and walked into Europe, then made their way to countries like Germany and Sweden, mostly unimpeded.
The new rules are supposed to keep refugees in Turkey until those considered to have legitimate asylum claims can be resettled in Europe in an orderly fashion. In the six weeks since it took effect, 50,000 people who were already in Greece have been trapped there. Most stay at camps built by the army at some two dozen sites around the country, where the news media has little access.
Those at Idomeni, once a little-known Greek village of 120 permanent residents, have defied government instructions to leave.
If they do, most argue, the world will forget them. Here are some portraits of people stuck at the border by Associated Press photographer Gregorio Borgia.
Yesa, 6, from Syria, holds his kite that he made with the sticks of a broken tent as he poses for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. At Greece’s blockaded border with Macedonia, 10,000 people who arrived hoping to start new lives farther west and north in Europe are settling instead into lives in limbo, sleeping in tents in mud and rain as they wait to find out what happens next. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
From left, Rashid Hassan, Waida Hassan, Evin Bilel, Neda Bilel, Hamud Hawar and Mohammed Arous, all from Syria, pose for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Musab Lalo, from Syria, holds a tea boiler, that he use to sell tea, poses for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Many thousands of migrants remain at the Greek border with Macedonia, hoping that the border crossing will reopen, allowing them to move north into central Europe. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
From left, Hames Juma, Mustafa Juma, Fidam Mamu and Susan Ali, all from Syria, pose for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Syrian Ziad Alli poses for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Syrians Murdin Mamou, left, and Mohammed Juma pose for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Kawa Simo from Kurdistan, poses for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Rostani, 10, from Afghanistan, wears a rain jacket and trousers as he poses for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Syrians Mohammed Nur Sermini, left, and Mohammed Samir pose for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Adid Al Barum, right, holds the hand of his 4-year-old daughter Ala, as they pose for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Syria’s Mariam Shaudi, holds her 4-month-old baby, Aia, as she poses for a portrait together with her 5-year-old son Ali, on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Lamal Alil, 3 years old, from Syria, poses for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Syrian Magdolin Hameidi, left, poses for a portrait with her friend Juanin Ala, and her daughter Jana, 5 years old, on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Diliber Kelesh from Syria, holds her 6-month-old baby Kamira as she poses for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
Maleem Sadiq from Pakistan, poses for a portrait on the tracks of a rail way station which was turned into a makeshift camp crowded by migrants and refugees at the northern Greek border point of Idomeni, Greece, Tuesday, May 3, 2016. Many thousands of migrants remain at the Greek border with Macedonia, hoping that the border crossing will reopen, allowing them to move north into central Europe. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)
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One thought on “In Greece, Refugee Families Living Life In Limbo”
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One thought on “In Greece, Refugee Families Living Life In Limbo”