Photos: Sea route blocked, refugees turn to old smugglers’ trail into Greece

Almost a million refugees and migrants crossed over from Turkey into Greece by sea in 2015. With that route now closed, asylum seekers have turned to the old smugglers’ route to cross the land border between the two countries, marked by the Evros River. Once over to the other side, young parents, widows and the elderly, trace their way along railway tracks which they hope will lead them to a town or reception centre where their cases can be heard and temporary residence sought.

Updated on: May 07, 2018 2:16 PM IST

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Syrian refugees who crossed the Evros river, the natural border between Greece and Turkey, board a police truck transferring them to a reception centre, near the village of Nea Vyssa, Greece. As dawn breaks over the waterlogged plain along the border, an outline of refugees emerges through the morning haze, picking their way through a road well travelled by thousands before them. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Young parents carrying infants and widowed women follow railway tracks they hope will lead them to a town. The refugees have become a common sight in the fields at Greece’s north-eastern border region with Turkey. “Do not send us back because we ran away from a war,” pleaded Maya, 28, from Aleppo who had been walking for 13 hours with her family. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Syrian refugee Zamilla Ammal, 39, protects her sleeping children from mosquitos at a train stop in the village of Pythio, Greece. Two years after a sea passage used for mass migration from Turkey to Greece’s islands was effectively sealed, more and more refugees are re-discovering this old smugglers’ route. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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A view of the Evros river with Turkey seen in the background, near the village of Pythio, Greece. In April alone, at least 2,900 people arrived in Greece via Evros. That equals half the estimated arrivals for 2017 overall, United Nations refugee agency UNHCR said on April 27. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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A migrant who crossed the Evros river from Turkey to Greece, demonstrates his bruised arm in the village of Pythio. Police and local government officials in the region are worried at the trend. Burst in arrivals, they say, more or less mirror an upsurge in hostilities in either Iraq or Syria. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Nearly a million refugees and migrants crossed from Turkey to Greece’s islands in 2015, but that route all but closed after the European Union and Ankara agreed to stop the flow in March 2016. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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A damaged inflatable boat used by refugees to cross the Evros river, is seen at the banks on the Turkish side. Under the deal, anyone who crosses to the Greek islands must qualify for asylum or face deportation to Turkey. The accord effectively turned five Aegean islands into cramped holding camps for more than 15,000 people unable to leave until their claims are processed. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Syrian refugees rest in a field as they wait for the police to arrive and transfer them to a first reception centre. The land border does not appear to fall under the agreement, but a UNHCR official cautioned at jumping to conclusions the exclusion actually diverted the migrant flow elsewhere. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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It can take about five to six minutes to paddle one’s way across the river. One man cradled a month old baby, in a small blue swaddling blanket. A second, a blank look in his eyes as a sleeping toddler bounced in a pouch strapped to his front. Beyond that, a small blonde girl in pigtails clutching a pink ragdoll, scowling as an adult pulled her along. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Before the sea corridor, with its harrowing journey in the open seas on overcrowded rafts, between Turkey and Greek islands became a grave for hundreds of refugees in 2015, Evros had claimed at least 1,500 lives over the past 18 years. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)

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Twelve deaths in the first quarter of the year have outpaced all of 2017 put together, when 8 people drowned, said associate professor of forensic medicine Pavlos Pavlidis. “I can only hope the number stays there ... but we expect the worst has yet to come because the influx has risen,” he told Reuters. (Alkis Konstantinidis / REUTERS)