Interesting read about how the Times reporter found a group of migrants and was able to interview them.
Following the March of Migrants Along the Balkans
By ALISON SMALEAUG. 25, 2015
Photo
Migrants waited after being detained by Hungarian police on Sunday after crossing the Serbia-Hungary border outside Asotthalom, Hungary. CreditSergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
I set out from my base in Berlin for southern Hungary to write about the wave of tens of thousands of migrants and refugees — many fleeing wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan — that has worked its way up the length of the Balkans in recent days. How, I wondered, even with the skills of our local fixer and translator, Helene Bienvenu, might one expect to find migrants on the move? Or officials willing to talk about the challenges.
I need not have pondered. Once you have driven the highway to Szeged, southern Hungary’s largest city, and a little beyond, would-be refugees are everywhere.
You can find them by following trails of detritus in the fields — crushed plastic bottles for water or soft drinks, abandoned shoes, wrapping papers from snacks or sweets whose language attests to a journey from Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia. Within five minutes of arrival, Helene and I had caught up with a group of about 20 people moving through a soggy field.
Continue reading at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/i...n&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0
Following the March of Migrants Along the Balkans
By ALISON SMALEAUG. 25, 2015
Photo
Migrants waited after being detained by Hungarian police on Sunday after crossing the Serbia-Hungary border outside Asotthalom, Hungary. CreditSergey Ponomarev for The New York Times
I set out from my base in Berlin for southern Hungary to write about the wave of tens of thousands of migrants and refugees — many fleeing wars in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan — that has worked its way up the length of the Balkans in recent days. How, I wondered, even with the skills of our local fixer and translator, Helene Bienvenu, might one expect to find migrants on the move? Or officials willing to talk about the challenges.
I need not have pondered. Once you have driven the highway to Szeged, southern Hungary’s largest city, and a little beyond, would-be refugees are everywhere.
You can find them by following trails of detritus in the fields — crushed plastic bottles for water or soft drinks, abandoned shoes, wrapping papers from snacks or sweets whose language attests to a journey from Turkey, Greece, Macedonia, Serbia. Within five minutes of arrival, Helene and I had caught up with a group of about 20 people moving through a soggy field.
Continue reading at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/25/i...n&action=Click&pgtype=Blogs®ion=Body&_r=0