A Migrant’s Journey: 1 Week, 30,000 People, 2,500 Miles – The Atlantic

The number of refugees landing on European shores this year has already topped 380,000, according to the UN. That’s well ahead of the 215,000 that arrived in 2014, and there are still four months left in the year. Tens of thousands of migrants, mostly Syrians, are now stretched across southeastern Europe, making a perilous journey in buses, by rail, on small rubber rafts, and on foot. They are crossing borders, leaping fences, fleeing detainment centers, dodging police forces, and pleading for help as they hope to reach Germany, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, and other welcoming countries, looking for safer, better lives. Nations along the route are straining to accommodate the huge influx, and tensions are running high. The images below are from just the past week, as another 30,000 people entered Europe by sea and began their trek north.