Europe's Migrant Crisis: Children on run wish for a normal life

Most children don’t want to talk about the war. They dream of going back to school, writes Aleksandar Lazovski

When I arrived on Saturday to the Macedonian town of Gevgelija near the border with Greece, I witnessed children with utter desperation and fear in their eyes. Thousands of families on the move from conflict zones in the Middle East, Asia and parts of Africa had pushed through a police cordon where they had been waiting to enter Macedonia. This resulted in a stampede as exhausted and frightened people, including children, raced towards the city centre.

Amid the confusion, children were separated from their families and left to wander down the nearby railway tracks. My colleague and I, worried for their safety, set out to find these children and bring them to Unicef’s newly established child-friendly space until they could be reunited with their parents and caregivers. It was a terrifying ordeal for them, but all were later able to re-join their families.