Thousands of refugees abruptly broke through lines of Macedonian border guards on Aug. 22, after two days of violent tear-gassing and grenades.

It is one thing to create refugee camps near places of unrest; it is quite another to welcome thousands of migrants into civilized, first-world countries.

Refugees seeking to escape from the conflict in Syria and other Middle-Eastern tribulations will now make their way north through Serbia, then Hungary and finally to the Schengen region – 26 of the most elite borderless European countries not requiring passports.

The conflict in Syria has been growing worse since it began in 2011.

The British Broadcasting Channel (BBC) reported that over 200,000 lives have been lost since then, in an article on March 12.

Islamic State in Syria/Lebanon (ISIS, ISIL, IS), and their terroristic plots are in direct correlation with the number of refugees Macedonia is dealing with.

Reuters has estimated that 50,000 refugees came to Greek shores from Turkey in July, and that these migrants are now pouring in through the Macedonian borders at a rate of 2,000 per day.

Among the refugees are men, women and children all looking to flee the escalating horror that has taken hold of their homes. Food, water and places to charge cell phones were made available by some Greek merchants, for a price.

23-year-old Fatima Hamido, a Syrian migrant, said in a Reuters’ article: “In this Europe, animals are sleeping in beds and we sleep in the rain. I was freezing for four days in the rain, with nothing to eat.” 

On Aug. 20, Macedonia declared a state of emergency, and since then, thousands of migrants are entering on a daily basis. Now, the railways in Gevgelija, the town near the border, have become overcrowded.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) – an organization geared to “protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide” – has growing concerns for the recent events at the Macedonian border.

Even though the situation has calmed down since Friday, the thousands of incoming migrants are worrisome for Western Europe.

“UNHCR is also appealing to the Greek authorities to enhance registration and reception arrangements for people in need of international protection and to provide urgent assistance to people stranded on the Greek side of the border and help them move towards reception facilities away from the border,” said António Guterres, the High Commissioner for Refugees, in a statement last Friday.

The thousands at the Macedonian border are not the only migrants seeking refuge from their troubles.

A spokesman for the Italian coastguard stated that “The Italian navy rescued a total of 1,700 migrants aboard five boats in the Mediterranean on Saturday after receiving requests for help from nearly two dozen vessels”.

Even though this is the largest amount of migrants the Mediterranean coast has seen, it doesn’t mean that more are not currently on the way.

According to an Aug. 22 article from Aljazeera, “More than 104,000 migrants from Africa, the Middle East and South Asia have landed at Italy’s southern ports so far… after being rescued in the Mediterranean,” this year alone.

Western European countries are growing uneasy as increasing amounts of migrants are crossing their borderless borders while the Middle East transforms into a merciless hotbed of conflict.

Bogdan Mynka is a freshman Music Major from Kharkiv, Ukraine. He can be contacted at 335-2290 or by [email protected]. The opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily those of the staff of The Daily Evergreen or those of the Office of Student Media.