2018 Photo Contest, General News, 3rd prize

Lives In Limbo

Photographer

Francesco Pistilli

14 January, 2017

Refugees gather on the waste ground where they are living behind Belgrade’s train station. The area was soon to be swallowed up by a multi-billion-euro redevelopment project called the Belgrade Waterfront.

The tightening of the so-called Balkan route into the European Union stranded thousands of refugees attempting to travel through Serbia to seek a new life in Europe. Many spent the freezing winter in derelict warehouses behind Belgrade's main train station. The UNHCR reported that the number of refugees in Serbia had increased from 2,000 in June 2016 to more than 7,000 by the end of the year. Some 85 percent were accommodated in government facilities, most of the others slept rough in the capital.

About the photographer

Francesco Pistilli

He is currently focusing on reportage and editorial portraiture with political, social and environmental contents. He has worked in Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Sudan,...

Technical information

Shutter Speed
1/60
Focal length
28.0 mm
F-Stop
5.0
ISO
3200

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