November 2015, the no man's land between Serbia and Hungary. Refugees walk, disoriented, in between Serbia and Hungary. There is a total lack of information on the Balkan route. Refugees are easy victims for smugglers. There are no facilities here despite the need. A few volunteers hand out rain coats and clothes. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
September 2016, Belgrade, Serbia. In the center of Belgrade, refugees gather in a park. Serbian authorities tried to prevent refugees from sleeping there. Some of these refugees just arrived from Bulgaria or Macedonia; others came back from the Hungarian border, tired of asking for asylum. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016. © Kristof Vadino
December 2015, the Greek-Macedonian border near Idomeni. A refugee looks through the border fence from the Macedonian side. She is looking for her lost family. She crossed the border in one of the chaotic last border crossings. Macedonia closed its border with Greece in December 2015, again in March 2016, then indefinitely. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
December 2016, Idomeni, Greece. A family of Yezidi from Iraq waits for hours at the Greek-Macedonian border. As Macedonia closed its borders to all refugees except Syrians, Afghans and people from Iraq, they check every document thoroughly. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
September 2015, Lesbos, Greece. A small plastic boat packed with refugees from Turkey arrives on the beach of Skyminea. Usually there are around 50 or 60 passengers in a boat that should carry no more than 20. The smugglers ask for up to $1,200 per person. Many refugees die along the way. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
September 2015, Lesbos, Greece. These refugees just arrived in a packed boat full of refugees. The motor of their boat broke down, leaving them stranded on the wild sea for hours. They are exhausted and chilled. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
September 2015, Lesbos, Greece. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
October 2015, Sentilj, Slovenia. The refugees are unsure if they will be able to enter Austria. After the closing of the Hungarian borders, refugees now go through Croatia to Slovenia—but not for long, as Slovenia will also close its borders. And Croatia will likely follow suit. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
September 2015, Lesbos, Greece. In the informal camp, Kara Tepe, refugees listen to hear if their name is called from a list. If so, they can get a boat ticket for mainland Greece. The Greek state cannot cope with all the refugees entering their country. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
October 2016. A Syrian refugee from Aleppo will wait for months to be relocated to another EU country in this old industrial warehouse near Thessaloniki. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
October 2015, Preshevo, Serbia. On the Serbian side of the Serbia-Macedonia border, thousands of refugees wait for days in the rain and cold to get registered by Serbian authorities. Often chaos erupts, leading to tension between the refugees and police forces. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
September 2016, Horgos, Serbia. Two Kurdish refugees from Syria relax just outside a refugee camp at the Serbia-Hungary border. There is not much to do in the camp. Many wait for months to get their asylum claim processed by Hungarian authorities, never knowing when it will be their turn. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
October 2015, Preshevo, Serbia. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
October 2015, Preshevo, Serbia. These refugees found shelter in an open concrete structure. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
October 2015, Zakany, Hungary. The last train with refugees departs from the Croatia-Hungary border heading for Austria. Just after this, Hungary constructed a fence along its border. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
September 2016, Backi Breg, Serbia. Three Algerians walk on Serbian territory towards the Hungarian border through meadows, woods and thickets. A couple of meters from the border, a border patrol is having a party with a fire, music and beer. Suddenly, a branch cracks under the foot of one refugee, and four bright lights shine right on the refugees. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
December 2015, Greek-Macedonia border near Idomeni. A refugee waits to cross the Greek-Macedonian border as the Macedonian border police searches through his documents. They just decided that people from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq can pass. Because Macedonia closed its border, thousands of refugees are stuck in dire conditions on the Greek side of the border. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
January 2017, Belgrade, Serbia. Behind the central train station. Because Serbia's borders with Hungary and Croatia are increasingly difficult to pass through, refugees are piling up in Serbia. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
January 2017, Belgrade, Serbia. Refugees line up to receive food from volunteers. The Serbian government said that organizations should not give food and clothes to refugees. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
January 2017, Belgrade, Serbia. Three minors live here with a 20 year old in the abandoned train cars. As the official camps are full, many live in central Belgrade in warehouses, shacks and abandoned train cars. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
January 2017, Belgrade, Serbia. A minor sleeps with hundreds of other refugees in this warehouse. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.
January 2017, Belgrade, Serbia. Temperatures can drop as low as -20°C, leading to frostbite and respiratory problems. Severe illness like amputations and lung infections are prevalent. © Kristof Vadino, Winner, LensCulture Emerging Talent Awards 2016.