This family is from Afghanistan. The fled from the Taliban and are now stranded in Greece. They are staying in Malasaka, 40 km away from Athens. They do not have money and havenât moved from the camp. They donât know about their future and whether they will be able to stay in Europe.
PiraeusTerminal E2, Greece. âEvery day I convince people not to go to the border,â says Christina, a volunteer from California, USA, describing the situation at a second ferry terminal in Piraeus. âBut travel agencies are still selling them tickets to Idomeniâ. âMore people are ready to apply for asylum in Greece now,â she adds, âbut they donât know how to do it.â Here, sheltering inside the terminal hall (pictured), in tents outside (pictured) or blankets on the open road, are over 1,000 mainly Syrians and Iraqi refugees â including severaly disabled people, tiny babies and pregnant women. Children run free on the quay, with nothing to protect them except the watchful eyes of exhausted parents and volunteers.
Outside the old airport building, children run free as cars whiz past and adults watch from the sidelines. âArrivals domesticâ says an old yellow sign. Fawzia, a woman in a blue headscarf, is picking flowers â a touch of beauty amid the ageing concrete. She says she left Afghanistan because of the security situation and kidnapping. Other women gather round: âThere are no washing facilities,â says Elena, aged 18. Sheâs been here two weeks. âNo handwashing, the toilet is full but we have to use them. The Taliban killed my father and my uncle. We came where for the future of the babies.â
