Even though the makeshift camp at Idomeni has been vacated, the migrantshave been using illegal ways to enter Macedonia. The illegal entries are not frequent, but still, about 10migrants a day cross into Macedonian territory.
The migrants use crossings where there is no protective fence and they are aided by smuggling groups from Greece and Macedonia. The groups have great cooperation, and once the migrants cross the border they are at once handled by the local group that has to transfer them quickly to the Serbian border.
Most of the migrants are from Syria and Afghanistan. They run away from the camp near Thessaloniki in small groups and head towards Macedonia. Most of them are discovered by the army or police, but part of them manage to enter.
After they enter, some of them go by foot along Vardar river, along the railroad, or they are transported by smugglers. Poor migrants are forced to choose the harder way because they cannot pay for transport by van or car. Their journey lasts for several days.
Somewhere halfway, they make a stop at the house of humanitarian Lence Zdravkin, next to the railroad in Veles. They are well informed that they can rest there, have some food and refresh for the journey ahead.
The migrants are not allowed to use public transportation, so the smugglers take advantage of this situation and transport them with cars or vans to villages near the Serbian border.
But, this sort of transport is dangerous since the smugglers fear that they might get caught and often leave the migrants at pay tolls after taking their money and mobile phones.