Behind the central train station in Belgrade, Serbia, a few hundred refugees and migrants, mostly men and boys from Afghanistan, are camped out in abandoned warehouses, cars, and train carriages. In an attempt to keep warm in frigid winter temperatures, they burn railway ties that had once been fortified with tar oil, creating a thick, carcinogenic smoke.
Many of them have been here for months, trying repeatedly to cross the tightly controlled border into Croatia or Hungary but being sent back, sometimes after having been badly beaten by border guards. At the time of my visit, the number of people living in this makeshift camp was estimated to be 1,000.
2 of 8
3 of 8
4 of 8
5 of 8
6 of 8
7 of 8
8 of 8
Behind the central train station in Belgrade, Serbia, a few hundred refugees and migrants, mostly men and boys from Afghanistan, are camped out in abandoned warehouses, cars, and train carriages. In an attempt to keep warm in frigid winter temperatures, they burn railway ties that had once been fortified with tar oil, creating a thick, carcinogenic smoke.
Many of them have been here for months, trying repeatedly to cross the tightly controlled border into Croatia or Hungary but being sent back, sometimes after having been badly beaten by border guards. At the time of my visit, the number of people living in this makeshift camp was estimated to be 1,000.