Search...

Κυριακή 19 Ιουνίου 2016

[EN] HOPE LOST IN GREECE, SOME SYRIANS PAY SMUGGLERS TO GET HOME

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrians gather around damaged buildings after a bomb attack at the Sayyida Zeinab suburb, Damascus, Syria, Saturday, June 11, 2016. Two bombs went off Saturday near the Syrian capital, killing at least eight people and wounding over a dozen others in the latest attack to hit the predominantly Shiite area in recent months, state TV and an opposition activist group said. (SANA via AP)

In this photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, Syrians gather around burning buildings after a bomb attack at the Sayyida Zeinab suburb, Damascus, Syria, Saturday, June 11, 2016. Two bombs went off Saturday near the Syrian capital, killing at least eight people and wounding over a dozen others in the latest attack to hit the predominantly Shiite area in recent months, state TV and an opposition activist group said. (SANA via AP)

This photo released by the Syrian official news agency SANA, shows the scene after a bombing attack at the Sayyida Zeinab suburb, Damascus, Syria, Saturday, June 11, 2016. Two bombs went off Saturday near the Syrian capital, killing at least eight people and wounding over a dozen others in the latest attack to hit the predominantly Shiite area in recent months, state TV and an opposition activist group said. (SANA via AP)

DIDIMOTICHO, Greece (AP) — Europe seemed like the promised land, worth risking their lives to reach. But in a muddy field on the northern edge of Greece, their dreams died. Now, dozens of Syrian refugees are risking their lives again but in the opposite direction — paying smugglers to take them back to Turkey, and heading home.
Rather than brave the often treacherous waves of the Aegean again, they face the dangerous currents of the Evros River, which runs along the Greek-Turkish border. Each night, groups of migrants and refugees huddle at the railway station of the small border town of Didimoticho, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the frontier, setting up small tents and waiting for their chance to cross.