The Greek border village Idomeni used to be little more than a whistle stop and customs post -the last European Union flag one would see for another 800 km heading north. In late 2015, it witnessed the influx of almost a million refugees and migrants. When Northern Macedonia sealed its border in November, effectively closing down the so-called Balkan route to Europe, the small village boomed to a sprawling tent city of more than 12,000 men, women and children, who camped along the border, railway tracks and surrounding fields, braving cold, rain, mud and disease, some waiting for weeks, hoping to be allowed northwards. 

 

In the crowded Idomeni camp on the edge of an overwhelmed country, food, shelter and dignity were in short supply. Tents and sleeping bags lined the passenger platform and railway lines. Every few hours, police officers pushed back the crowds to make room for freight trains to pass: the containers and boxcars were allowed to cross a border that remained off-limits to people there. More than once, groups tried to continue their journey by crossing rivers and through mountain paths. Scuffles broke out at the camp as people scrambled for food, water and firewood. Sanitary conditions were abysmal and the air toxic, as people burnt plastic and trash to keep warm and even the young and able-bodied were feeling the strain.