It's pathetic what these people have to go through to gain freedom.
From Syria to Serbia: The migrants' Balkan backdoor
#MigrantLife
Refugees from Syria who take the less well known Western Balkan route to the EU face being robbed at gunpoint, beaten and taken hostage
A group of migrants wave as they walk on a back road close to the railway line between the cities of Gevgelija and Demir Kapija in southern Macedonia on May 5, 2015 (AFP)
Simona Sikimic
Thursday 28 May 2015 16:41 BST
Last update:
29 May 2015 0:00 BST
BELGRADE - A month ago Abu Khaled used to be a teacher, living what he described as a comfortable life in a Damascus suburb. Since then, he has travelled more than 1,500 kilometres by land and sea and so far spent 5,000 euros ($5,600) on smugglers. He has survived a journey in a “death balloon” in the dead of night, walked for days on end, and been crammed into the back of a van with a dozen other refugees and illegal migrants desperate to avoid police.
He now sleeps on a park bench in central Belgrade, shielded from the sun or rain by old pizza boxes. He says he won’t stay long but that he first needs to get his hands on a further 3,000 euros ($3,400) to pay another smuggler to take him the rest of the way to Germany.
Abu Khaled’s journey might be extraordinary but it is in no way unique. He is just one of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants who are expected to try and enter Europe through the so-called Western Balkan route this year as the exodus from parts of the Middle East and Africa continues.
Continue reading at:
News Middle East Eye
From Syria to Serbia: The migrants' Balkan backdoor
#MigrantLife
Refugees from Syria who take the less well known Western Balkan route to the EU face being robbed at gunpoint, beaten and taken hostage
A group of migrants wave as they walk on a back road close to the railway line between the cities of Gevgelija and Demir Kapija in southern Macedonia on May 5, 2015 (AFP)
Simona Sikimic
Thursday 28 May 2015 16:41 BST
Last update:
29 May 2015 0:00 BST
BELGRADE - A month ago Abu Khaled used to be a teacher, living what he described as a comfortable life in a Damascus suburb. Since then, he has travelled more than 1,500 kilometres by land and sea and so far spent 5,000 euros ($5,600) on smugglers. He has survived a journey in a “death balloon” in the dead of night, walked for days on end, and been crammed into the back of a van with a dozen other refugees and illegal migrants desperate to avoid police.
He now sleeps on a park bench in central Belgrade, shielded from the sun or rain by old pizza boxes. He says he won’t stay long but that he first needs to get his hands on a further 3,000 euros ($3,400) to pay another smuggler to take him the rest of the way to Germany.
Abu Khaled’s journey might be extraordinary but it is in no way unique. He is just one of tens of thousands of refugees and migrants who are expected to try and enter Europe through the so-called Western Balkan route this year as the exodus from parts of the Middle East and Africa continues.
Continue reading at:
News Middle East Eye
