11.03.2016, By JOVANA GEC, Associated Press
TABANOVCE, Macedonia (AP) — Yousif Shikhmous had such high hopes of
starting a new life in Germany that when his son was born, the Syrian
refugee named him Merkkel. Only four months later, Shikhmous has seen
all those dreams shattered after he and his family boarded what has
become known as "The Last Train to Europe."
The group of about 400 refugees from Syria and Iraq were among the last to enter Macedonia from Greece, where they got stuck this week when the Balkan countries started closing their borders, abruptly shutting the main migrant pathway to Europe.
The group of mostly women and small children had caught a northbound train that took them to the border with Serbia. But instead of moving on, they found themselves in a no-man's-land between the Macedonian and Serbian frontiers — mired in a muddy limbo created by the latest chaos marking Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II.
Thousands of people now are similarly stuck along the route through the Balkans that saw more than 1 million people surge out of Turkey, through Greece and toward the wealthier nations of Europe in 2015.
Refused permission to move onward, they are caught by the suddenly changing entry rules and living in dire conditions in small, donated tents. And more people fleeing war and poverty keep streaming out of the Middle East and elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are stranded on the Greek side of the border with Macedonia, and authorities hope to start relocating most of them from an overcrowded refugee camp there in the coming weeks. Tensions are running so high at the camp near the Greek village of Idomeni that fights over food broke out Friday as aid organizations distributed the supplies, leaving some people bloodied and limping.
It took two months for the Shikhmous family — 32-year-old Yousif, his 20-year-old wife, Dilan Haji, and young Merkkel — to escape the Syrian civil war. Their journey began in the town of Hasaka in northeastern Syria, where their son was born and named for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, even though they spell his name differently.
They went via Turkey and over the Aegean Sea to Greece, crossed the Greece-Macedonia border on foot, and boarded a special train to take the refugees to Serbia, paying 25 euros (about $28) per person.
They reached the Serbian border Monday, where they got off the train to cross the frontier on foot and be taken to a refugee center for processing to continue the journey north.
But nations along the Balkans route have been tightening border restrictions this month on migrants and refugees. This week, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia suddenly refused them transit.
The Shikhmous family and the other refugees never made it across the Serbian border, having been told it had been shut to them for good. Still technically in Macedonia, they can see the Serbian border police patrol about 50 yards (meters) away.
They also learned that Macedonian authorities would no longer take them, having already stamped their papers.
They found themselves trapped, with no shelter or help. For four nights, they have been staying in a sodden field.
"We want them to open the border and to go to Germany," Shikhmous said. "I am waiting here for the border to open."
They stayed in the field, with border police keeping guard behind barricades. As heavy rain started falling, the vast grass field turned into pools of water and ankle-deep mud, strewn with garbage and small fires for warmth. Stray dogs roamed nearby, looking for food scraps amid the waste.
Shikhmous said in broken English that when they arrived, there was "no food, no dress for woman, no dress for men, no milk for baby."
After a day or two, aid groups brought warm clothes, food, rubber boots and jackets, he said. They set up portable toilets and distributed tents. Doctors arrived to check on the children, many of whom have fallen sick with fever and respiratory and stomach ailments.
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TABANOVCE, Macedonia (AP) — Yousif Shikhmous had such high hopes of
starting a new life in Germany that when his son was born, the Syrian
refugee named him Merkkel. Only four months later, Shikhmous has seen
all those dreams shattered after he and his family boarded what has
become known as "The Last Train to Europe."The group of about 400 refugees from Syria and Iraq were among the last to enter Macedonia from Greece, where they got stuck this week when the Balkan countries started closing their borders, abruptly shutting the main migrant pathway to Europe.
The group of mostly women and small children had caught a northbound train that took them to the border with Serbia. But instead of moving on, they found themselves in a no-man's-land between the Macedonian and Serbian frontiers — mired in a muddy limbo created by the latest chaos marking Europe's worst migration crisis since World War II.
Thousands of people now are similarly stuck along the route through the Balkans that saw more than 1 million people surge out of Turkey, through Greece and toward the wealthier nations of Europe in 2015.
Refused permission to move onward, they are caught by the suddenly changing entry rules and living in dire conditions in small, donated tents. And more people fleeing war and poverty keep streaming out of the Middle East and elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are stranded on the Greek side of the border with Macedonia, and authorities hope to start relocating most of them from an overcrowded refugee camp there in the coming weeks. Tensions are running so high at the camp near the Greek village of Idomeni that fights over food broke out Friday as aid organizations distributed the supplies, leaving some people bloodied and limping.
It took two months for the Shikhmous family — 32-year-old Yousif, his 20-year-old wife, Dilan Haji, and young Merkkel — to escape the Syrian civil war. Their journey began in the town of Hasaka in northeastern Syria, where their son was born and named for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, even though they spell his name differently.
They went via Turkey and over the Aegean Sea to Greece, crossed the Greece-Macedonia border on foot, and boarded a special train to take the refugees to Serbia, paying 25 euros (about $28) per person.
They reached the Serbian border Monday, where they got off the train to cross the frontier on foot and be taken to a refugee center for processing to continue the journey north.
But nations along the Balkans route have been tightening border restrictions this month on migrants and refugees. This week, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia suddenly refused them transit.
The Shikhmous family and the other refugees never made it across the Serbian border, having been told it had been shut to them for good. Still technically in Macedonia, they can see the Serbian border police patrol about 50 yards (meters) away.
They also learned that Macedonian authorities would no longer take them, having already stamped their papers.
They found themselves trapped, with no shelter or help. For four nights, they have been staying in a sodden field.
"We want them to open the border and to go to Germany," Shikhmous said. "I am waiting here for the border to open."
They stayed in the field, with border police keeping guard behind barricades. As heavy rain started falling, the vast grass field turned into pools of water and ankle-deep mud, strewn with garbage and small fires for warmth. Stray dogs roamed nearby, looking for food scraps amid the waste.
Shikhmous said in broken English that when they arrived, there was "no food, no dress for woman, no dress for men, no milk for baby."
After a day or two, aid groups brought warm clothes, food, rubber boots and jackets, he said. They set up portable toilets and distributed tents. Doctors arrived to check on the children, many of whom have fallen sick with fever and respiratory and stomach ailments.
