In Greece, the migration crisis has become a test of endurance. These Syrian children
have been waiting for days at a roadside petrol station 15 kilometers south of the Greek Macedonian
border. Buses carrying refugees are stopped here whenever the log jam at that border is
too large to manage. Some sleep in the buses, others on the ground. As border controls further
north are tightened, it is a cold, windy symbol of how Europe continues to mismanage the
migration crisis. This motorway petrol station just south of the Greek border with Macedonia
is fast becoming a makeshift refugee camp, as you can see behind me. We have counted
at least 80 buses here. The Greek police tells us at least 2,000 refugees are here
in Limbo, waiting to proceed north. When the buses are let through, this is where they
arrive, the refugee transit camp near the Greek village of Idomani. Here again, queues
form documents are checked, procedures followed. The arrival and later the departure tents
they wait in smeared with the frustrated words of their predecessors. Across the nearby field,
the fence that separates them from their trip north. Macedonia has been fortifying it in
recent weeks, it is now 12 kilometers long. After several recent closures, some worry it
may soon be sealed altogether. Over the last few days, everybody has been very thoroughly
checked on the other side of the border. That means the number of refugees is building up
on this side. We expect, or so rumour has it, that it will soon be closed completely.
That explains why many refugees are impatient to reach this destination, the Gevgelia transit
camp in Macedonia. Border checks here have become far stricter, valid ideas required,
only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghanis are allowed in. It's an efficient and well run camp, there
was nothing here four months ago, this structure will soon allow refugees to wash their clothes.
Inside the tents, there's warmth, electricity and hot food and drink. It's a welcome respite
from the human traffic jam in Greece. So many people slept outside, in the cold, yes. Then
we came here and passed the border and all the difficult things I think it will be easy.
Once processed, the refugees purchased tickets north. Once a day, a Macedonian train takes
1400 of them to the Serbian border and then the whole procedure starts all over again.
