Mark Henley

Reportage, 2015

On the Road

Syrian refugee supporting his baby's head as he carrys him along the M1 Highway, with other refugees, several kilometres after leaving Budapest. Thousands of refugees, mostly from Syria, had been stranded for days in Budapest at the city’s main Keleti train station. The government had closed the borders with Western Europe to them, and cancelled all trains that might take them to Germany and beyond. On Friday, in a gesture of defiance and frustration, hundreds of refugees set out to walk to Vienna, a distance of about 250 kilometres. In reaction, in the night, the Hungarian government changed policy and brought refugees to the border with Austria, not only those on the road, but also those at Keleti station and others being held in various camps. — refugee crisis migration hungary

Refugees asking to be able to board a train which will take them to the Serbian border, at Vinojug reception centre at Gevgelija, just inside Macedonia from Greece. More than 10,000 refugees passed through the centre on that day. — refugee crisis migration balkans

One-and-a-half year old Bayan al-Hussein laughs as her father Hassaka throws her up in the air to keep her entertained . She is one of his five daughters who he has brought from Syria. They, like thousands of other refugees and migrants are being held in a field at Rigonce in Slovenia, after crossing the border from Croatia. — refugee crisis migration balkans

Woman with her baby and baggage amongst a surge of refugees and migrants attempting to cross the Serbian-Croatian border at Berkasovo/Bapska. The Croatian authorities had attempted to control the flow of people by holding them at the frontier until transport was available for them to be taken the 12 kilometers to be registered at the Opatovac Transit Centre. Some people however went around the police, and across fields, followed by the majority of refugees, including this woman. 7'900 people were registered by Croatian authorities on this day. — refugee crisis migration balkans

Man showing the video he made of his family crossing from Turkey to Greece in a small boat. He is charging his phone along with many others in a tent provided by Greenpeace. It also has free wifi, and plays an important role in allowing people to contact relatives and friends, many of whom have become separated along the route. At Collection Point Number 1 near Röszke, a kilometer from a gap in the Hungarian-Serbian border. From here buses are supposed to take refugees for registration. There are too many refugees and not enough buses, and the wait is long. More refugees are arriving all the time. 11,000 people crossed the border here on the previous day.The following day, Hungarian authorities sealed the border, reducing the flow to zero, blocking refugees and migrants in Serbia. — refugee crisis migration hungary

Syrian refugee pointing out his place of origin to the Croatian police with a map as a means of communication, during an obligatory process of registration on arrival in Croatia at Opatovic Camp, close to the border with Serbia at Bapska. After registration refugees and migrants will be taken by train from Tovarnik to the Slovenian border. In theory refugees ad migrants were registered in Greece, then in Macedonia, then Serbia and now Croatia. — refugee crisis migration balkans

Syrian refugees cooking maize they've scavenged, near Horgos in Serbia, close to the Hungarian frontier. Many refugees and migrants, fearing registration and containment by the Hungarian authorities, hesitate before crossing the border. — refugee crisis migration balkans

Refugee by a small fire, using a sodden sleeping bag to try and keep the rain off, at a collection point site near Asotthalom, close to the Serbian border in Hungary. Some of the refugees have been here for three days, and it has been raining heavily for several hours. — refugee crisis migration hungary

Child crying in the cold leaning against the border fence, whilst a man sits hunched up in an UNHCR blanket. They are among 2,000 refugees and migrants stuck at Berkasovo, on the border between Serbia and Croatia that night. They are waiting since midday and noone knows when they will be allowed through. They prepare to spend the night on a muddy field in the no man's land between Serbia and Croatia. People are shivering, children are crying, their clothes are wet and dirty. — refugee crisis migration balkans

Alone, carrying a bag in his arms a refugee crosses the border from Serbia into Hungary at dusk, on the last night before the Hungarian authorities closed the frontier blocking the main migration route. 11,000 refugees and migrants crossed here on the previous day. — refugee crisis migration hungary

Charging a mobile phone from a cable used to provide light for a tent set up to protect refugees and migrants stuck on the frontier between Serbia and Croatia. Many groups become separated at such crossing points and the phones have become a vital means of remain in contact, mainly through Facebook groups. The also play a major role in providing information about routes and border crossings, which can change daily. — refugee crisis migration balkans

Refugees walking through Kljuc Brdovecki sometime before midnight, going to cross the border into Slovenia from Croatia.They are brought by special train, a five hour journey, from Opatovac Registration Camp close to the Serbian border. From the station they must then walk with their belongings, and often with small children, through the village to a bridge over the Sutla River two kilometers away. After this they must walk across the border into Slovenia, through fields to Rigonce where they will be held by Slovenian authorities until space is available in a registration centre. The temperatures are only just above zero, and a smell of rubbish burning on fires lit for warmth at Rigonce hangs in the fog-bound atmosphere. — refugee crisis migration balkans

Group of refugees, huddled against the rain, caught in the headlights of a passing car as they walk along the highway to be put in buses to take them to the Hungarian frontier, at 01:15 in the morning. They are among the group that had walked from Budapest teh previous afternoon and evening. More than 1,000 refugees began a march on foot to Vienna because the Hungarian government wouldn’t let them take trains to Austria and Germany. Faced with this, the Hungarian government suddenly reversed its policy. Overnight on September 5 a fleet of buses took 4,000 refugees to the border with Austria. — refugee crisis migration hungary

At 21:20 in the evening of September 14th, a refugee child sleeps on the tracks at Röszke train station. She is amongst the last refugees allowed entry into Hungary prior to its announced border closure at midnight. They are waiting to take special trains being laid on to transport them directly to the Austrian border. — refugee crisis migration hungary

Refugees lit by a brief light from a Croatian policeman's torch. They are walking along a track approaching the Slovenian border, close to midnight. They must walk on to Rigonce, where they will be held in a field, until space is available in a registration centre. The temperatures are only just above zero, and a smell of rubbish burning on fires lit for warmth at Rigonce hangs in the fog-bound atmosphere. — refugee crisis migration balkans

Projektbeschrieb

More than 800,000 refugees and migrants passed through Eastern Europe, seeking asylum in Austria, Germany, and beyond. They were blocked at borders, but the flow continued, the largest displacement of people in Europe since the war in the Balkans. This essay, drawn from from work in Hungary, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia and Slovenia documents this difficult but determined transhumance. The essay is neither chronological nor geographical but attempts to weave a portrait of this migration.

Publikationsinformationen

Titel der Arbeit: On the Road