And just like that two extraordinary weeks in the Balkan Route have passed. We’ve covered 1300kms across 5 locations in 2 countries in a region that saw 60,000 refugees transit through last year.
The biggest lesson we’ve learned is how devastatingly forgotten the humans of The Balkan Route are. Made even more apparent now with the European and global outpouring of understanding and support for our world’s newest refugees from Ukraine.
By comparison, people on the move in Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Serbia, are mercilessly beaten by police and border force instructed and paid to keep these people out of the European Union AT ANY COST.
The special people dedicated to helping along the Balkan Route
We saw the other side too, of course. Volunteering with our partners Collective Aid, No Name Kitchen and working alongside Kompas and Medical Volunteers International, we met the very special humans dedicated to helping and caring for arguably the most forgotten people on earth.
Stand out moments include dancing the Macarena around a camp fire in the night, the heartfelt gratitude for a new pair of socks and the first shy smile from a man badly beaten by the police after the medics had treated his head wound and black eye.
But I’m also haunted by the shadows… boys as young as 13 hunted like animals hiding out unseen in railway lines and squats. Dispersed because being together is too dangerous. Facing a border crossing we made in 15 minutes, taking them 3 weeks walking to reaching relative safety.
These people are the same people we help in Greece and, when they finally cross these borders, the same people we help in northern France. Ultimately they’re the people granted asylum by our governments who join our societies and communities. Why, in this section of their journey, are they so forgotten? Same for the NGOs supporting them each struggling with broken down vehicles, small warehouses or insufficient aid being sent to them from aid groups.
We are happy to be funding three new vans for these teams. And we’ll continue supporting their ad hoc needs, as and when they ask for as long as they need. I hope we’ll also be back soon to support and help.
