Migrants take long, winding road to reach EU gateway Hungary
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — When Jean-Paul Apetey thinks of all he has endured, he finds it hard to believe he made it to Europe.
The 34-year-old from Ivory Coast piloted a migrant-packed boat from Turkey to Greece; lost his backpack evading police in Macedonia; escaped from Bangladeshi smugglers; stared down knife-wielding thugs in Serbia; and made it through thanks to an act of kindness from a French tourist who fancied his dreadlocks.
Now he's in Hungary, an increasingly popular back door for migrants to break into the European Union. Their journey is full of dangers, but not typically the mortal peril of a sea crossing to Italy — a journey that has produced more than a thousand dead in the southern Mediterranean this month alone.
Nor does the so-called Balkans route typically end in deportation. Instead, migrants like Apetey who make it this far usually get what they're after, because Hungary does little to stop migrants from heading west. Most bolt within a week to Germany or France.
"I am in Europe!" Apetey exclaimed. "I can start to become a human being again."
But a journey by a group of West Africans — followed for two months by Associated Press reporters — showed that hardship, heartbreak and brutality lurk on the road to European dreams.
In this photo taken on Monday, April 6, 2015, one year old Kendra sits on the lap of her mother Sandrine Koffi, 31, at a bus stop after being reunited with her mother in an Asylum Seekers reception center, Debrecen, Hungary. Hungary is the most popular back door for tens of thousands of migrants annually who want to breach the perimeter of the European Union without obvious risk of death. Their long journey through the Balkans, often on foot and at night, proves to be full of disappointment and danger, but not the mortal peril of a North African sea crossing to Italy - a journey that has produced more than a thousand dead in the southern Mediterranean this month alone. (AP Photo/Dalton Bennett)
http://apnews.excite.com/article/20150422/eu--migrants-reaching_europe-abridged-36ea6ce75d.html
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Anybody who says these people undertake such a harrowing journey lightly is nuts.