After a brief respite aboard a Greek passenger ship, Syrian refugee Mohamed has found himself stranded on a filthy, chaotic strip at the Macedonian border, his way to the relative security of northern Europe blocked by razor wire and riot police.
The 20-year-old geology student, like thousands of others stuck at the Greek frontier village of Idomeni, has made an arduous and often dangerous journey to escape the horrors of the Syrian civil war.
What he has found at Idomeni has brought him close to despair and now he simply wants to go anywhere in Europe that is safe. “We just want to survive,” he told Reuters.
Obama’s legacy in not stopping the Assad killing machine because of his Iran deal is really Syria’s tragic legacy of over 300,000 people dead and stranded refugees. These images is what will Obama be remembered for. A president who cared only about himself and his ideology.
After making his way through Turkey, Mohamed took a small boat over the narrow stretch of water to Kos, a Greek island where conditions have been dire as thousands of migrants arrive this summer from as far as Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.
Mohamed, who did not give his family name, covered the next stretch in the relative comfort of the ship which crossed the Aegean to Piraeus. After that came an overland journey to the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki, and from there he walked – 70 km (45 miles) in the burning mid-summer heat.
The sight at Idomeni is pitiful. Several thousand refugees and migrants shouted “Help us!” to Macedonian riot police behind the wire. This blocks a railway line that others had used to walk across the frontier as they headed north towards Hungary and Europe’s open-border Schengen zone.
Carve this image in your memory to represent Obama’s legacy.
In the meantime, sanitation is dire on the Greek side. The weather turned cold and wet overnight, with fields next to the railway track where migrants have pitched tents becoming muddy. In the morning hours, people huddled around open fires while yet more arrived on foot. Many were trying to find other entry points into Macedonia.
Ahmed, 32, stranded with his wife Rane and seven-month-old child, have waited four days at the border, hoping they can head to Germany where they have friends. “It’s miserable here. Our child is coughing and we don’t have any clothes,” he said.
Frustration spilled over into anger, not necessarily directed at the police blocking their way.
“All the world is lying and the Arab countries are the number one liars,” said Shero, a 25-year-old Syrian who has been at Idomeni for two days.
“They are supposed to be our brothers but they turn their backs on us.”
for many Syrian-Americans though, Obama is to blame for standing by while Assad showed us the barbarian that he is. This is Obama’s legacy. The real one.
Happy the Iranian terrorists are your partners now, Mr. President!
Reuters contributed to this article.
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