THESSALONIKI, greece — Migrants from Africa, Asia and the Middle East take many routes to cross illegally into the European Union, and all are fraught with likely disappointment and occasional danger.
The newest path, through the EU’s Balkans backdoor, comes with a cruel twist: an epic 150-mile walk that is surging in popularity even though most who try it fail.
This month, The Associated Press traveled for 10 days and nights with a 45-member group of West African migrants trying to reach Germany and France via Hungary, the terminus of the Western Balkans route.
The 32 men and 11 women packed into a two-bedroom basement apartment have left West Africa in search of a better life in Europe. Most had come via Turkey and, after paying smugglers about $1,100 each, sailed to nearby Greek islands to claim asylum on EU soil. But none want to stay in Greece.
To escape means heading north to Hungary via the former Yugoslavia, and a key link in the journey — Macedonia — must be covered on foot because of stiff penalties for traffickers.
It takes half a day for the entire group to board buses at a Thessaloniki central station full of rival groups of Asian and Arab migrants — and a large contingent of immigration police checking IDs. Two of the 45 Africans fall at this first hurdle, facing arrest for failing to carry papers identifying them as asylum-seekers. The rest start their long walk an hour north.
The next night, most hiking is done after dark to reduce detection, they cross the border into Macedonia under the noses of a hilltop police observation post.
The group traverses a mountain ridge, a road junction, cabbage fields and streams. After many days and 87 miles on foot, their luck runs out. Youths spot the Africans and shout abuse at them. Two policemen appear. Five are arrested.
The next day, the smuggler and his group are in Macedonian custody and are shipped back to Greece.
As soon as the migrants are unloaded at the border and ordered to walk back into Greece, many Arabs and Asians shipped back with them make a U-turn, dissolve into the woods and try their luck again.
The demoralized Africans retreat to their Thessaloniki safe house to reorganize. Ten days after the debacle, the smuggler sets out again with 33 clients.
