vicious cycle

The Grecian port city of Patras harbors thousands of immigrants desperately wishing to escape. Bound by the “Dublin Convention,” captured immigrants are subject to deportation to their first EU country of entry. For most, that country is Greece. 

They hail from Africa and the Middle East seeking jobs, others fleeing violence. They sleep on discarded mattresses huddled in abandoned train yards where burning refuse illuminates the night. Some barely wash in the bitter winter months. Food is scavenged. They wait months or years for their chance to sneak aboard a cargo ship bound for Italy. 

At night they brave barbed-wire and police beatings to dash across the docks, praying guards won’t catch them in their flashlights. 

Less than five will board a week. Most are captured in Italy and returned to Patras. The trainyard is always there, waiting to accept them back.