Fortress Europe Border Updates
Update from Edirne: Day 2
Our team (Eva, Lorenz and Natalie) reporting from the ground on 12.3.2020
We spent a short night in our car parked on a sidewalk in Karaagac. In the morning, we went to the village’s main street and witnessed dozens of refugees line up in front of the only supermarket to buy food. They came with muddy shoes and trousers, all torn. In front of the supermarket, local vendors make a business out of selling shoes, plastic sheets and other goods to the refugees.
We distributed some blankets, pain killers, bread, Vaseline and bandages. We heard horrible stories, were shown wounds from barbed wire and beatings on the greek side as well as footage from inside the border area. People are in need, there is lack of food, water, baby milk, clothes, blankets, socks – everything. We exchanged numbers with several refugees so they can keep us updated about their needs and share information and footage from inside with us.
After we distributed all the goods we had with us, we decided to get a hotel room in Karaağaç in order to be able to leave to Edirne to get more supplies and still get back inside. A guy we met here offered to pay for us until Sunday.
We spent the next few hours driving around Edirne, buying loads of blankets, sleeping bags, wet wipes, socks, women’s underwear and sanitary pads. We distributed those together with a local guy and two other Germans on the ground.
There are around 15.000 people at the border, the situation is just terrible. Tents are not allowed, they improvise as best as they can. The nights are freezing, people can’t sleep because of the cold. After the escalations yesterday, today was rather calm. No teargas at least.
Journalists that are not with Turkish media don’t get accreditation.
There’s undercover police everywhere. Some are right at the border among the refugees, sometimes instigating actions at the border. They are also all around Karaagac, checking passports of foreigners. They checked ours as well today, but never asked us any questions and just handed them back to us after taking our data.
Considering the current situation, we are trying to keep a low profile while helping as much as we can. There’s no use in getting more volunteers on the ground at the moment, unless they are fluent in Farsi or medical personnel.
Turkish authorities allegedly started testing for Corona among the refugees.
We spent a short night in our car parked on a sidewalk in Karaagac. In the morning, we went to the village’s main street and witnessed dozens of refugees line up in front of the only supermarket to buy food. They came with muddy shoes and trousers, all torn. In front of the supermarket, local vendors make a business out of selling shoes, plastic sheets and other goods to the refugees.
We distributed some blankets, pain killers, bread, Vaseline and bandages. We heard horrible stories, were shown wounds from barbed wire and beatings on the greek side as well as footage from inside the border area. People are in need, there is lack of food, water, baby milk, clothes, blankets, socks – everything. We exchanged numbers with several refugees so they can keep us updated about their needs and share information and footage from inside with us.
After we distributed all the goods we had with us, we decided to get a hotel room in Karaağaç in order to be able to leave to Edirne to get more supplies and still get back inside. A guy we met here offered to pay for us until Sunday.
We spent the next few hours driving around Edirne, buying loads of blankets, sleeping bags, wet wipes, socks, women’s underwear and sanitary pads. We distributed those together with a local guy and two other Germans on the ground.
There are around 15.000 people at the border, the situation is just terrible. Tents are not allowed, they improvise as best as they can. The nights are freezing, people can’t sleep because of the cold. After the escalations yesterday, today was rather calm. No teargas at least.
Journalists that are not with Turkish media don’t get accreditation.
There’s undercover police everywhere. Some are right at the border among the refugees, sometimes instigating actions at the border. They are also all around Karaagac, checking passports of foreigners. They checked ours as well today, but never asked us any questions and just handed them back to us after taking our data.
Considering the current situation, we are trying to keep a low profile while helping as much as we can. There’s no use in getting more volunteers on the ground at the moment, unless they are fluent in Farsi or medical personnel.
Turkish authorities allegedly started testing for Corona among the refugees.
