People queue on the left to try their luck crossing the guarded Greek-Macedonian border on 21 November. Source: Cameron Thibos.IDOMENI, GREECE (21 Nov, 11:00 am)—The road connecting the village of Idomeni in northern Greece with the Macedonian border is marked only by a green sign pointing the way to the “station of sanitary veterinary inspection of Idomeni”. Follow this road as it cuts through a field of harvested crops and scattered garbage and you’ll soon realise the signpost’s sad irony. At the street’s end sit humans rather than animals, but caught in the caprice of border policy their situation today is little different from that of livestock. Their shelter is cold and foetid, their conditions unhygienic, and they sleep, eat, and stand on the wrong side (from their point of view) of a firmly shut fence. There is one difference though: these animals can also shout.
VIDEO: Individuals denied entry into Macedonia because they are not Syrian, Iraqi, or Afghan protest at the border on 21 November. Source: Cameron Thibos
“Europe, please open the door!” The sound of their voices becomes stronger and more varied as others join in the chant. “Let us in! We need help! … We want in! We want out!” Men in Macedonian military fatigues stare back at them from across the razor wire. Activists say that the soldiers have been there for a while, checking papers and slowly but surely letting people through. But since Wednesday night (18 Nov) they have enforced a new rule: only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghans—apparently assumed to be the only ‘real’ refugees—can now pass. Those without the very perverse ‘luck’ of being from these countries must wait or go back.
