On the Greek-Macedonia border lives a cat who has followed his owner from war-torn Syria to Europe seeking a better life. Kapoush the cat is one of the inhabitants of a makeshift refugee camp in Idomeni, a Greek town bordering Macedonia. Hes been living there since his owner Isra, a Palestinian refugee from Syria, brought him along on the perilous journey from Turkey to this northern border.

Isra, 22, who was studying architecture in Syria, is a Palestinian that grew up in the Yarmouk refugee camp in Damascus. She came to Europe with her father, mother and younger brother, and brought Kapoush along on the journey. Isra arrived with Kapoush at the port of Piraeus on 1 March on a passenger ferry from the Greek islands, after taking a smugglers boat across the Aegean Sea from Turkey.

Kapoush cant live without me, and I cant live without you Kapoush, she said, as she played with her furry friend in a small tent in the camp in Idomeni.

Isra found Kapoush in Damascus when he was just one week old. She said the kitten was very scared during their journey across the sea from Turkey, and now in Greece hes also frightened by the sound of trains that pass by the border camp where they are living. She now carries the cat around in a baby carrier to keep him close and safe.

The recent closure of the Balkan route to refugees and migrants – many fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East – has left thousands in the camp in despair. Border shutdowns have caused the blocking of the so-called Balkans corridor and more than 34,0000 people are now trapped on Greeces islands and mainland.

But Isra and her family refuse to leave the Greek camp in hopes that the border will open once again. Isra says one of her brothers is in jail in Syria, while her other brother is waiting for them in Sweden.