The last few miles to the Greek border with Macedonia are covered on foot. The railroad tracks point the way. But soldiers block the way. There’s no going forward. The group sits down, sleeps and waits, surrounded by garbage accumulated over many days. The children, afraid and thirsty, watch as inflexible officials organize small groups that walk on to a station and board a train for the border with Serbia, packed with families desperate to avoid being separated. “Keeping the family together is the absolute priority, and sometimes almost an impossible mission for fathers and mothers. If they are separated, they may never reunite on a route where they don’t even know where they will wind up,” writes Javier Bauluz. (​Read this chapter)

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