(AP) At first sight, this tiny village in Serbia seems sleepy and almost abandoned, like many others across the Balkan country.
But a closer look reveals a parallel reality lived by its temporary migrant residents, who are struggling to cross from Serbia over heavily guarded borders with neighboring European Union states Romania and Hungary.
Majdan has been one of the hubs along Serbia’s border with EU neighbors where migrants remain stranded, often for months, while making dozens of thwarted attempts to cross the border and move on toward Western Europe. It encapsulates their problem: they can’t go forward and they can’t go back.
Authorities deny it, but the migrants tell stories of being repeatedly pushed back at the border in what is an illegal anti-migrant strategy.
