Living in camps and shelters is not easy and is causing many refugees great distress. For 25-year old Syrian refugee Basma, however, the stress of a shelter or camp is not as severe as the horrors she faced with her two children by foot on the Balkan route from Syria to Germany.
Afghan and Pakistani migrants have died in a traffic accident while being smuggled accross Bulgaria, a new report by Refugees International outlines inhumane conditions for migrants in Libya and an Italian multimedia project offers glimpses into the 'already forgotten' Balkan Route. This and more in today's news roundup.
Nine migrants from Pakistan and Afghanistan have died after a minibus transporting them through Bulgaria crashed on the highway. The bus was reportedly driven by a 16-year-old Bulgarian who did not have a license.
Some 75,000 refugees and migrants, 24,600 of them children,are currently stranded in Greece, Bulgaria, Hungary and the western Balkans. They are at risk of long term psychological trauma caused by a prolonged state of uncertainty.
As thousands of migrants attempt to come to Europe, many of them rely on human smugglers to make the journey. Who are these smugglers, why do migrants come to them and how do the EU and other authorities deal with this illegal activity?
Around 1,500 migrants have rioted in Bulgaria's largest refugee camp, triggering clashes that left two dozen police injured and prompted the arrest of hundreds of protesters, officials said.