Migrants stuck at the Greek-Macedonian border. Demotix/Tasos Markou. All rights reserved.With the closure of the Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian and Macedonian borders to all migrants who are not of Syrian, Iraqi or Afghan nationality, the international community has sent out a strong signal. Any migrant who is not from one out of three nationalities and attempts to travel via the Western Balkan route to the EU is not welcome.
The distinction which Slovenia and the other countries sought to draw quite crudely was between “refugees”, desirable because they're deserving, and so-called “economic migrants”, un-deserving because they're greedy and opportunistic.
The reality, of course, is often much more complex than that, as illustrated by many accounts of individuals I met on their journey to Europe.
