We have seen in the media about the thousands of migrants gathering these days at the Macedonian border in their attempt to get to Serbia. From where they hope to reach their dream destination: the wealthy and war-free European Union. The Co-Chair of the European Green Party (EGP) Reinhard Bütikofer and a member of the EGP Committee Maria Peteinaki went to Macedonia two days ago and saw the situation with their own eyes. They visited the border together with the leader of the Macedonian Party DOM, Liljana Poposvka.

From this journey into one of the hot spots where thousands of desperate people are trying to escape from war, terrorism and hunger, Reinhard Bütikofer sends us his "impressions from the Serbian-Macedonian border".

"Together with Ljiljana Popovska and Maria Peteinaki, I today visited the Macedonian-Serbian border at Tabanovce. Approximately 40,000 refugees have crossed the border here in the last two months to travel further into the EU. According to the Red Cross, there are now 2000-2500 people per day. They come in up to four trains at a time or with buses, some even by taxi. According to UNHCR staff with whom I could speak, 85% of these refugees come from Syria. Civil war refugees from Iraq, Sudan, Afghanistan and Pakistan are also there.

"During my visit, a train with about 350 passengers arrived. Perhaps half of them young men, the other half, families. I talked to a group of Pakistanis, of which about one third spoke English. They were traveling for 20 days and mentioned Spain, Italy, France or Germany as their desired target. Asked about the reason of their escape, they answered with just one word: 'terrorism'.

"At the Tabanovce station, the refugees receive help from the Red Cross and other volunteers. At five o'clock in the afternoon, one Red Cross worker told me she had been on the spot since seven in the morning. Later, she would have to do her night-shift in the hospital where she works. I saw numerous Red Cross volunteers that set up barracks for up to three hundred people, mainly families, to be able to rest a night. On the other side of the border, which is in sight, there is supposedly a bigger camp for around 2,000 people. On the Serbian side, no police was seen. After 15 minutes, most people were 'over there'.

"Sometimes the border was temporarily closed by Serbian forces. 'Then the refugees simply cross the border about 500 to 1,000 meters to the west,' a UNHCR staff said. The Macedonian police very much restrained from actions. Also, no incidents had been reported previously. Two officers were on site, but only for checking whether the television crews that came along in a refugee train had filming permissions. They did.

"The UNHCR still has enough funds to organise support for the refugees, but with the current numbers the budget will not be enough. Will the EU help? Will there be crowdfunding efforts to financially support the work of local NGOs?"

Click here to see Reinhard's photos from the visit.