These are dark days for Europe. Today, Mar. 22, at least 31 were killed in bombing attacks at a subway station and the airport in Brussels. On Mar. 20, a terrorist attack in Istanbul’s central Istiklal Caddesi killed 10. And on Mar. 18, an agreement was signed between the EU and Turkey to send back new refugees attempting to cross the border into Greece, likely sending thousands of people to seek even more perilous ways to escape the horrors of war in Syria and elsewhere.
Shortly after today’s attack, Reuters photographer Fedya Grulovich took the powerful image below at the refugee camp of Idomeni, at the border between Macedonia and Greece. It portrays a refugee child, whose name and origin is unknown, holding a sign expressing his condolences: ”Sorry for Brussels”
Another tweet from Idomeni showed a different boy expressing the same sentiment:
These images seem to encapsulate the tragedy of these dark days. And yet seeing these children whose own circumstances are so grim still able to empathize with people in an unfamiliar city offers some glimpse of optimism about human nature.