SWNS Michael McCarron illegally entered the country by accident without any documentation

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Michael McCarron illegally entered the country by accident without any documentation after leaving his passport, iPhone, shoes and wallet on the Greek side of the riverbank. The 28-year-old had been working as a rep on the party island hotspot of Kavos in Corfu before going on a trip to mainland Greece. He got a ferry to mainland Greece, then a coach to the other side of the country to Alexandroupoli.

Once there he decided to have a swim in the river Maritsa, that runs along the Turkish border. Michael then trekked for around ten miles through lush valleys before being picked up by the army and interrogated about why he was walking through the country without any papers. He was then taken to the Edirne detention centre, where he spent several weeks in July 2015, before being released. He said: “They were really scared at first, they were friendly, but they thought I was in the army or a spy. I handed myself in to the army because I'd had enough.

GETTY The British national decided to have a swim in the river Maritsa

“When I left Alexandroupoli I got a map and compass and must have gone around 200km on foot to the boarder through steep valley and dark roads.

It gave me a greater appreciation of the suffering a lot of refugees go through on a daily basis Michael McCarron

“The river is about 16ft at its deepest, I don't know how I swam it and walked about ten miles barefooted. “I was picked up by the army who kept asking me who I was and because I didn't say who I was they asked me whether I was spy, whether I was a criminal, a murderer. “There were people there from Syria, Afghanistan, Yemen and north Africa, there were kids there, it was really heart-breaking. “It was certainly life-changing. To see children and families in there that has come through the war, it really made me realise how easy life is over here.

Greek migrant crisis Tue, June 28, 2016 Hundreds of migrants deported to Turkey, as part of EU-Turkey Refugee Deal. Play slideshow EPA 1 of 141 Greek Orthodox monk welcoming refugees arriving on a dinghy on a northeastern coast of the island of Lesvos, Greece

“Seeing the reality of what's going on over there really brought it home to me. It gave me a greater appreciation of the suffering a lot of refugees go through on a daily basis. “I made friends with a lot of people in there and it really struck me how happy people can be with so little. Guys would be just sitting in their rooms happily playing cards. “Then you see in this country everyone's got iPhones and expensive clothes and they're miserable. “I was the only white guy in there, a lot of my fellow inmates made comments about my blue eyes, it was something they'd not seen much. “While I was there I converted to Islam for about a week. I felt a bit uncomfortable not taking part in the daily prayer.” Mr McCarron, from Andover, Hampshire, was then taken to the British consulate in Istanbul with six armed plain-clothed police officers where he was given an emergency passport and told to leave the country.

GETTY The holiday rep was working in the party hotspot of Kavos, Corfu

He added: “They told me to leave Turkey and come back in legally if I wanted to claim asylum but when I came back they wouldn't let me in and said I would have to pay a fine of 2,000 Lira for entering illegally. “So I hitchhiked to Sofia in a day, part of it with a lorry driver who bought me some food and gave me some trainers.“ As he was not allowed back into Turkey he went to Bulgaria where a stray dog followed him for five miles into the consulate in Sofia. Mr McCarron then had to wait 12 hours at Sofia airport to fly back to Britain with his emergency passport. He added: “I just wanted to get out, I wanted to get asylum in Turkey, I was trying to get away from England and the establishment.

SWNS The 28-year-old said he made some good friends during his time in the detention centrre