Migrants escape homeland for fear of safety

(Vatican Radio) Some refugees attempting to make their way across Europe say they left their home countries because they have become targets for refusing to kill innocent people.

Listen to Ann Schneible’s report:

Numerous migrants have said they never wanted to leave their home countries and hope to return. However, some say the prospect of returning home makes them fear for their lives.

Earlier this year, Hungary erected fences along the Serbian and Croatian borders to keep out migrants unwilling to apply for refugee status in the country.

Hungary has also begun construction on a fence along its border with Slovenia.

Vatican Radio’s Fausta Speranza spoke with one young man from Iraq at the border with Hungary, who said he escaped due to the threat that he either kill or be killed:

“They (told) me: come fight with us. I (said) no, I can’t do that because they kill innocent people. So they come after me.”

The young man said he escaped to Turkey, then to Greece, before making his way to the Hungarian border.

“If I stayed (in) Baghdad, one day they will try to kill me”

Many migrants continue to sleep outside in tents as they attempt to make their way across Europe. It is feared that this will pose a serious a problem in the coming winter months as temperatures continue to drop.

Earlier this month, the EU voted on a quota plan to redistribute some 120,000 refugees across the continent.

Around 480,000 refugees have crossed into Europe by sea in 2015 alone.