Greece hopeless on the border

Hamo had already walked 17 kilometers (10 miles) that day, pushing his 8-year-old daughter, Sidra, in her wheelchair, when he stopped in a field to ask directions to the Idomeni refugee camp.

Offered help to push the wheelchair, Hamo declined, adding, "I only want to go to Germany."

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Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016 file photo, Syrian refugees stand in a queue to receive food distributed by a non-governmental organization at a refugee camp in the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

The 36-year-old Iraqi, who is traveling with his wife, his disabled daughter and two more children, is one of the thousands heading northward through Greece, even though they know when they reach the border with Macedonia, it will almost certainly be shut.

The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It's where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks — on foot — north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated after World War II.

For many months, after Macedonia allowed the organized flow north by train, hundreds of thousands used it. Then Macedonia built a double fence protected by coils of razor wire and last month the flows slowed to a trickle. But people kept coming, hoping against hope to get through. This month, the gates closed, leaving about 14,000 refugees and migrants stuck on the Greek side, in an area that heavy rains quickly turned into a quagmire.

At the tent city that has sprung up as more and more refugees become backed up there, refugees protest near the border fence, crying "open the border" or calling on German Chancellor Angela Merkel to help them. At the height of the protests, children have been forced to run to avoid tear gas fired by Macedonian police.

Migrants arrive at Idomeni exhausted after the long trek on foot, and queue for hours to receive food. They sleep in flimsy tents or in the open. They wait near the border gate, hoping they will be lucky enough to be selected for admission. One Syrian woman was desperately looking for someone to give her clothes or food.

Every person only has one thing in mind: when will the borders open?

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016 file photo, refugees and migrants walk through fields in their effort to reach the Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 file photo. a father helps his children to run away, after Macedonian police fired tear gas at a group of the refugees and migrants who tried to push their way into Macedonia, breaking down a border gate near the northern Greek village of Idomeni. No arrests or injuries were reported.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Tuesday, March, 1 2016 file photo, a Syrian man plays with his one-year-old child as refugees and migrants wait to be allowed to cross the border to Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Monday, Feb. 29, 2016 file photo, refugees and migrants try to break down a border gate that separates Greece with Macedonia near the northern Greek village of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016 file photo, stranded Refugees from Syria are covered with blankets while waiting to be allowed to cross the Greek-Macedonian border near the northern Greek village of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016 file photo, refugees charge their mobile phones with a generator as they wait to be allowed to cross the border to Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016 file photo, a woman lies down in a tent in a refugee camp where thousands of people wait to be allowed to cross the border into Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 file photo, refugees warm up their selves near makeshift fires as they wait to be allowed to cross the border to Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Friday, Feb. 26, 2016 file photo, Syrian refugees warm themselves near a makeshift fire after arriving at the Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Wednesday, March 2, 2016 file photo, a child crawls on a field that refugees have set up tents as they wait to be allowed to cross the border to Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016 file photo, stranded refugees sleep in a camp where thousands of refugees are waiting to be allowed to cross the border into Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016 file photo, refugees stand in from of a wire fence that separates Greece and Macedonia as they a waiting with other to be allowed to cross the border near the Greek village of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Saturday, March 5, 2016 file photo, children watch a cartoon movie in a field at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni as they wait to be allowed to cross into Macedonia and continue their trip to the north. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 1, 2016 file photo, Hamo from Iraq pushes a wheelchair with his 8-year old disabled daughter Sidra through fields in their effort to arrive at the Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Friday, March 4, 2016 file photo, a man cooks food on a make shift fire during a rainfall in a camp where thousands of refugees wait to be allowed to cross the border into Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Thursday, March 3, 2016 file photo, a group of Afghan men pull branches off a tree to use them as firewood in a camp where thousands of migrants and refugees waiting to be allowed to cross the border into Macedonia in the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Greece Hopeless On The Border Photo Essay

FILE - In this Thursday, March 3, 2016 file photo refugees look at the the border crossing in front to a wire fence that separates the Greek side from the Macedonian one at the northern Greek border station of Idomeni. The fields of Idomeni were never a proper border crossing between Greece and Macedonia. It’s where the freight trains cross, and earlier in the crisis refugees and migrants traveling clandestinely through the Balkans used it as they followed the tracks _ on foot _ north toward central Europe. Soon it became a major staging point in the biggest mass movement of people the continent has seen since vast displaced populations were being repatriated in the bloody aftermath of World War II.(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

Text from the AP news story, AP Photos: Migrants continue to gather at closed border, by Petros Giannakouris.

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