The weather conditions in Idomeni are terrible. Many tents are flooded or simply don’t fulfill their purpose anymore. Even so, some people organized a sit in on the train tracks today. But the pouring rain doesn’t make a protest against the closure of the corridor any easier.
The fact that the Balkan corridor is closed is slowly settling in. Many do not want to believe it. People in the camps are not informed about this by officials, and remain uncertain about what to believe and whether rumors are true or not. The people we were talking to today were angry and in disbelief that they are really stuck now. „The UNHCR are liars“ one person said to us. The relocation program is being advertised with flyers translated into arabic and people are able to register for it already. This is not the „miracle“ solution the authorities want to portray it as. Since the beginning of the relocation program, only 0.5% of the promised relocations have taken place; a joke considering the numbers of people who are in need of protectoion.
People were left in incertainty in the rain in the camp. Although the government has anounced an eviction of the camp, they have not even started yet to redirected people to more permanent shelters with slightly better conditions.