There are signs everywhere of a massive unsupported migration, open ground is scarred by forgotten fires from groups passing time, shielding themselves from the cold. Things are strangely quiet, buses arrive slowly and infrequently, people are waiting, news of arrivals indicates that chaos may be around the corner, but the situation on the balkan route is changing and hopeful migrants are forced to take a more dangerous path.
Dotted throughout the rough Greek scenery groups are on the move, halted at border crossings or hidden out of sight their goal is the same, to move forward. As the political landscape shifts the border becomes less a point of entry, it looms on the horizon, something to overcome and to hide from, a past worth taking deadly risks to escape is behind and ahead a future of unknowns.
I’ve started to hate the word refugee, its generalises these communities, these people, these human beings, but I’m not here to write spiritually about how we are all one. People want to live a different life, want something better for their families, for themselves and for the future, but they are pushed back, or even worse imprisoned. Whatever your beliefs or political stance, it’s evident that something is completely wrong, there are reasons for the decisions that create this situation, but when these reasons ignore a common humanity, then the decisions they inform can only lead down a negative path.
