They are pouring into Europe by the thousands — Syrians fleeing a war-torn country to seek refugee status.
With limited legal routes to safety, many are making their way across the continent via foot, car or truck, country by country, along makeshift routes aided by smugglers and a broken asylum system.
Along the way, many migrants and refugees have begun to communicate using private messaging on WhatsApp. They share advice, providing a way for those making the risky journey to securely communicate with one another in private groups. They exchange messages about their experiences at border crossings, who to contact to smuggle them and what paths are safest.
As the migrant crisis in Europe reaches heights not seen since the post-World War II era, driven in large part by millions of displaced Syrians, refugees are more than ever setting out to find routes into northern Europe. Syrians are not alone in their journey, though, as other migrants from across Africa and the Middle East flood into Europe, seeking jobs and a better life.
Many hope to reach the economically stable countries in northern Europe, and use WhatsApp's messaging system as a virtual road map to help them navigate their journey. They stick to groups of their countrymen, connecting through friends of friends. Unlike some other ways of communicating, WhatsApp is free, and only requires that the user have access to the internet.
Migrants on the way from Greece to Macedonia walk alongside a railroad track in May, 2015.
A 28-year-old Syrian refugee, who goes by the pseudonym "Ideas" while awaiting asylum, knows the perils of this journey all too well. He is currently seeking asylum in the Netherlands, after spending weeks navigating the dangerous route from Turkey to Greece, before walking through the Balkans. He has also spent time in a Hungarian prison.
Ideas said the route was his only way to secure safety, and decried the U.S. and Europe for limiting the number of Syrian refugees able to gain legal entry.
"European states, the United States — they push us to do it," he told Mashable. "We have no choice — just this, and if there was any legal way, we would not choose this way."
Ideas grew up in Syria, completed his Bachelor's degree in English literature at Damascus University in 2010 and taught English, before signing up for obligatory service in the Syrian army.
But when Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime began a deadly crackdown in 2011 on protesters who demanded that the government step down, Ideas said he was instructed to fire on them. Soon after, he deserted the army with a group of other soldiers, while serving in Deir Ezzor. Many of the deserters were executed, but Ideas and another soldier escaped. He knew he needed to leave Syria, and fled first to Turkey, before paying smugglers to travel in a crammed boat to the nearby Greek island of Lesbos.
In Greece in particular, where a financial crisis is gripping the nation, humanitarian groups have expressed concerns about overcrowded conditions at the few detention facilities for those who migrate illegally. Most refugees who arrive are looking for an immediate way out, including Ideas, who arrived in May.
Before setting out on his journey, Ideas bought a cheap and inconspicuous smartphone. Such devices have become a necessary staple for those trekking across Europe, as well as a virtual lifeline to communicate with relatives at home and others on the road.
Ideas shared this photo, posted to a Syrian WhatsApp group, showing hundreds making their way through Macedonia earlier this month.
Image: Facebook/Ideas Travels
Ideas said an inexpensive phone was easier to conceal, and less likely to be stolen or make him a target of thieves. Then, he set about joining a few large WhatsApp groups that he knew of through friends of friends, all Syrian, who were also making the journey.
Ideas walked through the Balkans into northern Europe over the course of around six weeks, following a route that has become popular with many asylum-seekers. Because of the dangers, many travel in small groups, and sleep poorly most nights, with limited access to food and water. The following footage, shared in a Syrian WhatsApp group, shows people walking through Serbia in June:
Most are trying to make their way around a 1990 European Union-wide agreement, called the Dublin Convention, which says asylum claims must be handled in the migrants' first point of entry into Europe; this was an attempt to stop people from traveling into the most desirable countries. Many refugees struggle to make it to their intended destination undetected, and face harsh conditions on the road.
Ideas himself headed to the Netherlands, where he is now in the process of applying for asylum. He still communicates with others on the road, and hears stories from those walking across Europe. Ideas said refugees who are traveling send their messages from anywhere they can access Wi-Fi, sometimes stopping in cafes or supermarkets to send messages home or to others on the road.
Activist and journalist Sam Nemeth has been working to tell Ideas' story on a Facebook page, which sheds light on the perilous journey for Ideas and other migrants.
This photo was sent to Ideas by another member of the WhatsApp group from a makeshift refugee center in Germany.
Nemeth and Ideas met in spring, shortly after Ideas landed in Lesbos on a dinghy packed with other migrants and refugees, according to Nemeth.
"Without a mobile phone, you are lost on the road," said Nemeth, who has been using WhatsApp to track the movements of those seeking refugee status. But telling Ideas' story was especially important to him.
"We really became friends ... after a day we started messaging with WhatsApp," he said. "Straight from the boat, from prison, it was so intense and emotional, I decided after a couple of days to put [the photos and messages] online, and see how people would react, and try to get some sort of community going around this."
Nemeth added that he believes it's important to put a human face on the migrant crisis in Europe, so telling the story of one refugee was key.
"It's dehumanized. I really want to show that it is just people like me and you in a situation like this," said Nemeth, who is the son of a Hungarian refugee.
Ideas said he hopes to get a master's degree in journalism after he applies for asylum in Europe, partly to tell the story of Syria's forgotten refugees.
"I want Europeans to understand our crisis," he said. "A lot of people know nothing about us, know nothing about refugees. I want to deliver a message to people about our crisis, about our suffering."
For Ideas, the choice to trek across Europe was life or death.
"Nobody wants to risk his life; every man has a brain, and everybody knows it's so dangerous," he said. "But there is no choice."
Ideas recently recounted the entire story of his trek from Syria to Europe, which you can listen to, here. Follow his journey on Facebook in the "Ideas Travels: A WhatsApp Odyssey in the Balkans" group on Facebook.
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Source:
WhatsApp offers lifeline for Syrian refugees on journey across Europe
