The journey started encouragingly for the refugees who in early 2016 bravely set off from Turkey to Greece. From those who went before them, they knew you could reach Germany within two weeks once you safely reached the other shore. But that was 2015. For refugees, however, 2016 would be a year of standstill.
The border with Macedonia was closed, leaving tens of thousands of refugees stranded in Greece. Camps were hastily set up, although things only really started to happen after the army got involved. At first, the stranded refugees hoped they could leave soon. They thought they could survive a few days or even weeks in a tent, despite all the complaints about the food and sexual intimidation. But the weeks turned into months… How can you turn a tent into a home using limited resources?
In 2016 photographer Ilvy Njiokiktjien visited the Katsikas tented camp in Greece. With the help of relief organization Oxfam, she documented the lives of the families in their tents.