Zsolt Balázs, a freelance photographer and visual storyteller, travels to the Serbia-Hungarian border to document the experiences of refugees
Horgos, Europe's Southern Gate, is the closest settlement to the Serbian-Hungarian border and is also at the edge of the schengen territory. The Subotica-Szeged railway links the two countries. The majority of its population are the "Vojvodina Hungarian". Their attachment to the land allows them to survive.
In 2015, a technical borderlock was built in Europe for the first time here by the hungarian government. The goal was to prevent refugees from crossing. The border was closed and the refugees and locals were trapped here. The drastic decision and resulting situation had a negative impact on everyone's life: Starving and tired refugees, desperate locals, ruined farms, and closed railways. As local "Vojvodina Hungarian" commonly say, "After the Yugoslav Wars, history has gone through us, again."
Belief of memories
St. Steven statue (hungarian state founder) at Horgos
The migration crisis has been ongoing for many years without a solution in sight. Nations and cultures remain strangers to each other, continuing to meet in the tensest of situations. The insecurity and hopelessness for both locals and refugees is reflected in this tension with the wider conflict worsening...
Piroska’s Dream
Piroska’s dream
“One night I dreamt that I was again a traffic controller, like I was for the last 10 years, every day. The waiting room was filled with the laughter of children, the excited expectation of mothers and fathers: I saw moments of hopes, hugs and kisses. I miss the railways. While cleaning the toilets at the border crossing, it is rarely possible to hear the laughter of children.”-said Piroska, the former traffic-controller at Horgos train station
Piroska, the traffic controller
“Chamber” closed train station
The 150-year-old Subotica-Szeged railway line and stations were closed in 2015. The last free passage of the technical boundary lock was closed by a freight train wagon, reinforced with a steel frame, holding a seven-row blade.
Steel and dust (remnants of the historical railway line)
Steven and his sacrifice
“We took the dogs to the fruit ground. One night we received an anonymous phone call. We were threatened that if we did not keep our dogs inside, somebody would end up in trouble.So, we listened.I decided to check on the fruit ground on another day. They called me to go home because Rózsika had collapsed in the garden.By the time I got home and the rescuers arrived, they couldn't help her... it was too late. She died of a heart attack.”He could not bear to be helpless and see his life's work destroyed day-by-day. He kept working.„I Sacrificed my wife for the land.”-said Steven, the old farmer. One of the farmers, whose fruit ground is near the border.
Steven, the old farmer…
and his sacrifice.
The last shelter: The inhumane state of refugee camps: refugees sleep and live in the forest or on the farmers' land and in their buildings, near the borderfence.
Joseph, the hunter
Joseph, the hunter.
“Wildlife is not interested in the fence or in its nationality. Wildlife just looks for a home, shelter. And if we hunt it, it flees. Now there is a fence. Now wildlife does not come. It also has no place to escape. But others comes, yes.
During a hunt, we almost shot a refugee. Something was moving in the bushes. My god, I thought it was a wild rabbit and that we should shoot it since they damages farmers' crops.”
-said Joseph Erdélyi, who worked as a official hunter.
The escape
Escape, across the fields and forest
The escape II.
“Walking 2700 km (1600 miles) over six months. And, why? For a better life for my family.
How can I forget the bombs, bullets, shouts and screams?
How can I forget the cold nights in the forests?
How can I forget the hopeless and fear?
Now, I have no chance and nothing to lose.
Every day, I try and try again to cross the border.
They beat me, spit on me, tell shut me to up.
But, I will try again, because it is better than ISIS.”
-said Abrah the carpenter, from Qamishli, Syria.
Here I am, alone
Untold tales (from the sea)
Short story of Qamishli from 2011: Syrian Civil War and the Rojava conflict.
War and political games.
The USA, Russia, Iran, Israel, Turkey.
Paramilitary groups.
Everyday bombing.
Car bombing.
Islamic state.
Riots.
Kurdish-turkish conflict.
The land of death and hate.
Alone
“Here we are alone. We have to fight for ourselves. This was the case during the NATO bombing.
Whatever happens, we are the closest people to the border. We are targets.
Therefore I want to hide my name and my face...If we want to protect our estate, we have to do it ourselves.”
-a Vojvodina businessman from Horgos
Self protection
Fight with a big black bag
Fighting injury
The gates of hopelessness
The gates of hopeless - Hungarian southern technical border fence
The path of hope - the six months route from Syria, to Serbia
If you would like access to the original high-quality photos please contact Zsolt directly via his instagram - @zsoltbalazsphoto
Time, treasure
Zsolt is a freelance reporter and photojournalist. He specialises in documenting stories in conflict zones. His aim is to show the immediate and long-term impact of humanitarian crises by capturing photographs and writing about the personal stories of those living through conflicts. In 2018, he started a long-term photo series called “B/Orderlines”. In this series Zsolt visits border, walls or fences and investigates how social life and natural living spaces have changed due to conflicts.