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Chronicle of an eviction foretold
CHRONICLE OF AN EVICTION FORETOLD
It was an open secret that the Greek government wanted to be finished with Idomeni, the largest refugee camp in Europe. A camp many have considered an insult to the values the European Union claims to defend but hasn’t bothered to do much about to support.
For months, the country’s authorities shuffled dates to close the camp, which had become a real headache after March 8. That’s when Macedonia, encouraged by the European Union, decided to follow the example of its neighbours Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia and permanently seal its border. Just like that, they closed the last route to Europe which had remained open in the Balkans and more than 13,000 people were trapped inside the bottleneck of Idomeni.
Despite that the official eviction notification arrived only a day before the actual closing of the camp, the rumour had already spread a few days earlier, creating an ambience of fear and stress among the refugees who did not know where they will be taken or what would happen to them.
. . .
Idomeni, Greece
June 2016
© Ignacio Marin
For months, the country’s authorities shuffled dates to close the camp, which had become a real headache after March 8. That’s when Macedonia, encouraged by the European Union, decided to follow the example of its neighbours Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia and permanently seal its border. Just like that, they closed the last route to Europe which had remained open in the Balkans and more than 13,000 people were trapped inside the bottleneck of Idomeni.
Despite that the official eviction notification arrived only a day before the actual closing of the camp, the rumour had already spread a few days earlier, creating an ambience of fear and stress among the refugees who did not know where they will be taken or what would happen to them.
. . .
Idomeni, Greece
June 2016
© Ignacio Marin
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