Turkey has pulled out of a deal with the European Union and says it will allow migrants to leave. But they’re stranded at the Turkish-Greek border.
DOYRAN, Turkey — An invisible border line bisects the skinny Maritsa river, separating Turkey from neighboring Greece — but for a group of migrants on the Turkish side, it might as well be a concrete wall standing in the way of reaching the European Union country.
But dreams of living in an E.U. country with E.U.-awarded rights evaporated quickly: People found themselves facing off with a hostile Greek police force that pummeled crowds at the border gate with tear gas and rubber bullets. A video circulated showing one Syrian who had been fatally shot. People tried to cross the river instead, looking for weak points.
Each has a reason for seeking refuge across the water, but most say racism and a lack of job opportunities are what’s driving them away from Turkey. He gestured at the families that dotted the lawn, protecting themselves from the cold with blankets the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees had delivered. “These children, what will happen to them? These small children? These women? Can they swim? Can they cross? Can they walk thousands of kilometers?”“I think we should go back to our houses in Turkey, it’s more honorable,” he said as he looked around at the group of young men. “They killed someone today. We’re human beings; we’re not animals.
Sami, 49 and a father of four, feels gratitude toward the Turkish government for letting them in. But he says his 14-year-old son was bullied mercilessly in school — so much that they pulled him out two years ago.Still, Sami said, “Turkey has only been good to us.” His wife Abeer interjected: “But the Turkish government should not have opened the border when it knows Greece won’t let us in.
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