Slideshow: Migrant refugees expelled from ad hoc camp at France-Italy border

As hundreds of thousands of people continue to move from the Middle East and North Africa across large swaths of Europe, many more continue to arrive in Greece and Italy. Once ashore, nearly all who are desperately trying to find somewhere they can successfully reestablish their lives begin a long overland journey towards northern Europe.

According to the Schengen Agreement that established the open borders between 26 European member states, asylum seekers are required to apply in the first EU country they reach. But enormous numbers of people are arriving in only two countries and most want to apply for asylum in Germany, which has the most liberal migration policies and social service networks.

As they try to depart countries of entry and cross borders internal to the European Schengen Area, they often find roadblocks to their passage. Tens of thousands of people are increasingly caught in bottlenecks at borders, forced to sleep in the open and uncertain when or where they will travel next.

FSRN’s Raphaël Krafft traveled to the border between Italy and France, where on any given day about 250 people spend their nights in what’s known as the Presidio No Borders ad hoc refugee camp. Or they did until Wednesday morning, when police evacuated and demolished the camp. Refugees and their advocates didn’t go easily.

Listen to Raphaël Krafft’s audio report.

Click on any image below to launch a slideshow of images he collected.