At the Gates of Europe | Zade Basil-Thanoon

Greek/Macedonian border. December 2015.

During a time when only Syrians, Iraqis and Afghanis could pass through the border, but the roughly 3-4000 people who were stranded at Idomeni were predominately North African nationalities who’s circumstances are often ignored in the asylum process.

Greek/Macedonian border. December 2015.

The neglected nationalities were left in particularly bad conditions and without much food or supplies, this raised double standards in border policy.

Greek/Macedonian border. December 2015.

The morning of the 9th December brought with it a surprise eviction from a horde of riot police surrounding the camp.

Greek/Macedonian border. December 2015.

Following the surprise eviction, the remaining asylum-seekers were taken back to camps in Athens. There they could attempt to claim asylum in Greece, or face deportation.

Greek/Macedonian border. December 2015.

Greek/Macedonian border checkpoint. December 2015.

Athens. December 2015

In Athens the situation remained tense as thousands of people staying in stadiums were waiting to be processed for asylum or face deportation. The application process was often slow and inefficient, the after-effect was a large portion of people turning away from the government-controlled camps and filling the streets of Athens.

Athens. December 2015

An Iranian asylum-seeker who explained he was leaving out of fear of his sexual orientation. He was amongst the large list of people who had valid reasons for seeking safety in Europe, but were often left out in the cold.

Athens. December 2015

An American medical volunteer sits down to protest with mainly Moroccan, Libyan and Balochi-Pakistani nationals after police attempted to stop volunteers from distributing food and medical supplies.

Athens. December 2015

Despite cold temperatures they removed their clothes, all they had left in most cases, to demand some care and attention as individuals who had viable reasons for leaving their countries. Returning back home to discrimination and war simply wasn’t an option for them.

Notara Squat, Athens. December 2015

Considered a safe-haven for refugees, the Notara Housing Squat hosted up to 120 people at any one time with priority given to vulnerable families, women and children. Attention was focused towards safe-guarding families from criminal exploitation and poverty on the streets.

Notara Squat, Athens. December 2015

Athens. January 2016

Children enjoy a session of arts and crafts at Notara to relieve the boredom.

Lesvos. January 2016

Upon arriving to Lesvos, the town of Mytilini was still fairly gripped by the current situation. Even so during a quiet period and with less refugees arriving onto it’s shores due to unstable weather conditions. Both volunteers and refugees were spread across the town with almost every hotel full and with highly inflated prices.

Lesvos. January 2016

There were still reports of boats arriving occasionally throughout the weeks. The next step would be to travel from the shores to Camp Moria near Mytilini; a long walk for those who couldn’t afford taxis or weren’t able to get a spot on the volunteer buses. They were then processed at camp and given temporary Greek papers which they would present once they arrived to the Macedonian borders, or to asylum offices in Athens.

Lesvos. January 2016

Littered across the island and besides the camp were countless life-jackets, many of which were fake and sold in Turkey by smugglers who sought to further exploit the situation.

Lesvos. January 2016

Kurdish men surrounding a fire on a cold night. With the wifi/sim-cards and plug-in points provided by volunteers, they spent a lot of time contacting family already in Europe and back home in the Kurdistan regions.

Aegean sea. January 2016

After receiving temporary asylum papers from the processing facility, individuals and families would then be allowed to purchase their own tickets and board the ferries to Athens.

Piraeus Port, Athens. January 2016

Arrival to Pireaus Port in Athens, where many were relieved to finally touchdown on mainland Europe.

Piraeus Port, Athens. January 2016

Travel agencies were poised and ready to greet their potential customers straight off the boat for transport to the Macedonian border.

Athens. January 2016

Activists at the Notara housing squat prepare food for those staying in Victoria Square.

Athens. January 2016

An evening in Notara.

Athens. February 2016

As news came on February 21st that Afghan nationals were no longer allowed to cross the border, the square began to fill up with hundreds more people. Stunned by the news and after traveling over 2500 miles from Afghanistan, many of them remained in central Athens to await further news.

Athens. February 2016

The situation would stagnate and continue for 3 weeks until the square was cleared and most asylum-seekers taken to ‘hotspot’ military camps which had been mentioned for a while leading up to it implementation.

Piraeus Port, Athens. March 2016

During this period in early March there came more confusion as the buses that would usually take the Syrians and Iraqis to the border had been halted, adding to the already trapped Afghani nationals, and steadily the port gates filled up with tents and campsites as the weeks went by. This was a precursor to the newly announced EU-Turkey deal which would stem the flow of refugees traveling across any European borders.

At the Gates of Europe: an insight into the Greek refugee crisis and the effects of EU border policy.

December 2015 - April 2016

The current refugee crisis has been the biggest mass movement of asylum-seekers since the end of the second world war, and an important topic in Europe and the rest of the world for years now. Media narratives often obscure the realities happening on the ground, whilst demonising the people attempting to cross into Fortress Europe.

Throughout all of these clashing narratives, I wanted to gain an in-depth understanding of the journeys made by the men, women and children behind the word ‘refugee’. Focusing on EU border policy and it’s unseen effects on the ground; I covered the period in Greece from when Syrians, Iraqis & Afghanis were passing through into Europe, to when the borders were shut to all nationalities after the announcement of the EU-Turkey deal, and the stagnation that followed to this day.

From the Aegean Sea to the Southern Balkans; this aims to show what asylum-seekers had to endure, and still endure, at the gates of Europe.