A Migrant's Trek Through Macedonia

A stressful but critical step in the journey for many Syrians and Iraqis on their way north through Europe.

 

REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski

Despite having set a July 20 deadline last April, European Union officials could not reach an agreement Monday on how 40,000 people seeking asylum in Greece and Italy should be spread around the EU. The decision will now be pushed back to the end of the year.
As part of the plan, EU commissioners have already agreed to resettle 20,000 refugees “from their countries of origin, such as Syria, or in transit, in neighboring Lebanon or Jordan,” according to Reuters.
Greece has taken in more than 80,000 migrants in 2015. Already overwhelmed with its own financial crisis, the country has struggled to care for them, leaving many with no choice but to keep traveling north through Macedonia on their way to Hungary (which is building a fence to keep them away), Austria, and Germany.
Photographer Ognen Teofilovski recently documented what the border between Greece and Macedonia looks like these days. Migrants, most of whom are from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq, crowd into Macedonia where they hope to make their way into Serbia by train before continuing the journey north.
It is an unpleasant trip, increasingly so of late with reports of Macedonian soldiers now tightly regulating the flow of people into their country. But it still pales in comparison to what they’ve already left behind.

Migrants try to get water on an overloaded train at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, near the border with Greece, on their transit route to Europe, July 19, 2015. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski)

Migrants try to get onboard an overloaded train at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, near the border with Greece, on their transit route to Europe, July 19, 2015. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski)

Migrants try to get onboard an overloaded International train, from Thessaloniki to Budapest at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, near the border with Greece, on their transit route to Europe, July 19, 2015. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski)

A migrant child runs at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, near the border with Greece July 19, 2015. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski)

Migrants walk towards the train station in Gevgelija July 19, 2015. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski)

Migrants wait on the Greek side of the border to enter Macedonia near Gevgelija, Macedonia, en route to northern Europe July 20, 2015. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski)

A migrant child of a family from Aleppo, Syria, looks out a window of a train at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, near the border with Greece, July 19, 2015. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovski)

A migrant waits for her transit papers at Gevgelija train station in Macedonia, near the border with Greece, July 19, 2015. (REUTERS/Ognen Teofilovskivski)