During the last week, the numbers of migrants and refugees stranded in the shrubby forests around the village of Idomeni, on the border between Greece and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, increased tenfold. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is providing medical consultations, psychological support, and relief items, and is now planning to increase activities. Stronger border enforcement at Idomeni has led to more than 2,000 people trying to get to northern Europe being blocked. Most of the people MSF’s medical team have seen are fleeing war and violence in Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Some are particularly vulnerable: elderly or disabled people; pregnant women; and children under five years old. Many are living in squalid conditions, staying outside in the bush or at the train station, without shelter, food, or access to hygiene facilities.
Here are the stories of some of the patients that MSF has been treating. All patient names have been changed.








