The refugees literally stuck at the camp in Idomeni
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
With their numbers at 13,000 and counting, overnight rain brought more misery for the refugees now literally stuck at the camp in Idomeni, near the border with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).
Stuck at the border and stuck in the mud, their hopes of crossing the border were evaporating a great deal faster than the water from the rain-soaked blankets that they spread out in the sun to dry on Tuesday morning.
FYROM authorities have kept the passage to the no-man’s land closed since Monday, allowing no one through, and no one knows when and under with what conditions the flow of refugees will resume.
People’s faces were visibly haggard after a night of battling to keep their families dry, digging ditches around the tents in an effort to keep the water away. The day for most began with the usual making of the tea over open fires, with water boiled in tin cans, and then lining up to queue for food.
The longest line was in front of the non-governmental aid organisation Praksis, which hands out 18,000 sandwiches – two for each adult and one for each child – with cheese, lettuce and egg. The camp is also still growing, with dozens more tents going up in adjacent fields. Despite the appeals made by aid workers, no one wants to leave and temporarily go to a relocation centre, where the conditions are much better.
Only a few say they have decided to apply for the relocation programme, for which they must have earlier applied for asylum in order to qualify.
The only relief for those at the camp comes from the volunteers that come from all over the world to help in any way they can. Among them a group of young people from Denmark, Germany, UK and the United States that first met on the Aegean island of Lesvos and then followed the refugees to Idomeni, setting up a tent next to a caravan and daily making and handing out hot tea.
ANA-MPA, Athens