News Deeply | 10.04.2017
As borders have tightened along the western Balkan route to Europe, more lone female refugees are arriving in Serbia having experienced violence and trafficking. Many who want to continue their journeys are using even riskier routes and never appear in official data.
Preethi Nallu
BELGRADE – Like many female refugees, Maryam would rather speak about other women who have fled their countries than share her own story. “We have come to the point of no return,” said the mother in her late 20s, tears rolling down her cheeks. “We women have endured a lot.”
It was February in Belgrade, and the Afghan refugee had just crossed over the border with Kosovo. She trudged to the Serbian capital in the thick of the winter, taking turns with her husband to carry their two children.
As she absorbed her unfamiliar surroundings, it dawned on Maryam how far she was from her Kandahar home; she began to convulse in panic. She regained her composure and apologized profusely. “I must not reveal any weakness in front of my children,” she said.
The family’s convoluted route to Europe started in the summer of 2015. They crossed the border to Iran and trekked to the Turkish coast. They crossed the Aegean Sea to Greece, before traveling northward through Albania, then Kosovo and Serbia, hoping to pass through Hungary and finally reach Austria.
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