HORGOS, Serbia (AP) – They walked for miles in blazing sun to reach the doorstep of the European Union only to find its doors shut. Now, a group of migrants protesting Europe’s closed borders say they have launched a hunger strike to press their message to European leaders.
Some 100 men and boys, mostly from Afghanistan and Pakistan, have been protesting Europe’s migrant policies for several days now. Last weekend they staged a march to Serbia’s border with EU-member Hungary, where they stopped in a dusty field near the boundary, without any facilities and accepting only water from humanitarian groups.
Desperate, they said Wednesday that no one seems to care. Holding banners reading “Your Silence is Hurting Us” and “We Were All Born Free,” the migrants were carrying on with their protest calmly in small groups, some with blankets or towels on their heads to protect them from the scorching sun. Their eyes blurred from the heat, some migrants collapsed getting up, as others rushed to their aid.
“The situation is turning from bad to worse,” said Roohul Amin Afridi, 33, from Afghanistan, one of the protest leaders. “We have been on hunger strike for the past four days.”
As a Serbian ambulance arrived to the scene, Afridi said that several men have collapsed already and have been taken to a local hospital.