Fortress Europe

At the height of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015 over a million people came to the continent. Most were asylum seekers fleeing war in Syria, Iraq and elsewhere.

At the time they were welcomed, even as their numbers overwhelmed Europe’s outer reaches. But three years later the welcome mat has been pulled.

Borders are closing, routes are blocked, and the EU is paying countries like Turkey billions to keep the desperate on distant shores. This as right-wing, anti-immigrant parties gain in polls. The numbers of migrants who do make it are way down. But the challenges they face once they get here are up.