On the Border, Migrants Play a Dangerous "Game"

​On the evening of Tuesday, February 20, through moving photographs and a riveting account, photographer Mario Badagliacca exposed a full audience of students, educators, parents and fellow photojournalists to the harsh realities of migrant life on the border of the European Union.

Born in Sicily, Badagliacca is a documentary photographer whose work focuses on human rights violations, social issues, migration and life in border regions.

He studied politics and international relations at University ‘L’Orientale’ in Naples, then photo-reportage and photojournalism in Rome.

As a student, Badagliacca worked with nonprofit organizations aimed at improving the lives of people whose rights were not acknowledged. He said that migrants in Italy did not have automatic social or political rights. Instead, these rights were connected to having a labor contract, which was difficult to obtain. Thus they lived without medical care or housing.

Part of his work included helping provide migrants with medication and housing. Along the way, he became interested in photography as, he said, it is the best way he can understand the world.

He calls photography his “translation process,” and refers to it as his civil duty. Through taking photographs, Badagliacca is “translating what’s around [him] into stories.”

He began working as a photojournalist, but soon became tired of regularity and office work. He wanted to find a synthesis between journalism, the social sciences and photography. Thus began his work in documentary photography. He now works freelance on his own projects. His photography has appeared in several magazines, on the covers of book jackets and in exhibits around the world. He has also received numerous international awards.

The title of Badagliacca’s photography exhibit -- showcased at Tuesday’s dialogue and on display in Villa Sassetti until March 2 -- is “The Game.” The English phrase is what migrants use to refer to the dangerous route across the Balkans, regardless of their origin or mother tongue. The route is referred to as a “game” because of the risk and multiple setbacks that characterize many types of games.

For the migrants, though, the game is not for fun, but for survival. Often people make several attempts to cross borders, despite the risk of encountering military personnel, who are known to force migrants to walk barefoot in the snow or jump into freezing water. Some have even unleashed dogs to attack and dismember them. These cruel actions have been documented by various NGOs (non-governmental organizations).

“The Game” is an ongoing project for Badagliacca: he has traveled to the detainment camps in Serbia, where migrants along the Balkan route are forced to stay until they are able to cross the border into the EU, and plans to return soon.

The Balkan route is an immigration path to Europe utilized by refugees from war-torn countries such as Syria and Iraq. Migrants pass through Turkey or Greece, cross through Bulgaria or Macedonia and arrive in Serbia, where they remain for an indefinite amount of time. The ultimate goal is to cross the Serbian border into Hungary or Croatia and continue their journey into European countries such as Germany, but Hungary and Croatia have strengthened and militarized their borders in an attempt to deter refugees.

The refugee crisis was spotlighted in 2015 when an unprecedented number of migrants arrived in Europe seeking asylum. But attention has faded since the closure of the route in the spring of 2016. Although the number of recorded immigrants has decreased, the reality is that migrants still pursue asylum in the EU, traveling along the dangerous route and enduring life in Serbian camps before moving onward.

Badagliacca photographed objects left behind by migrants at the borders of countries on the route, aiming to “translate to the audience the subjectivities of the owners.” These photographs, he said, represent the expectations, fears and desires of the migrants.

Prior to 2012, reporters were not allowed in the camps to investigate. When Badagliacca visited, he was under careful supervision. He said it felt as if he had stepped into a new country, a “painful limbo.” Within a year of his documentation, the shelters again closed their doors.

When Badagliacca traveled to Serbia in December 2016, it was after the route had been “closed.” He wanted to see what was happening and if the route was truly was closed, since the media’s focus on the subject had waned.

What he saw was “terrible,” he said, “worse than expected.”

The migrants were living in an abandoned warehouse at the waterfront, or in the “jungle,” the woods, in handmade shelters. They live without food or warm clothes in temperatures 10 to 20 degrees below freezing. Serbia banned asylum refugees from receiving food, blankets and clothes, so the migrants will burn anything to stay warm, and often the toxic smoke negatively affects their respiratory health. There are sometimes casualties.

In “the jungle,” said Badagliacca, the constant stress keeps migrants’ adrenaline high, allowing them to fight for survival. At the centers, however, the stress decreases, often causing depression and PTSD, as these migrants have witnessed the unthinkable and experienced extreme violence.

In one of the dwellings, an abandoned factory, they receive one hour of electricity and minimal food. Here, they use the electricity to charge their cell phones in order to communicate with others to assist in their migration process.

The most prominent message Badagliacca seemed to convey was the mimicry of normality these people practiced. The men engaged in protests and strikes; the women painted and created crafts; the children played.

He photographed things such as an electric razor, which was used to give haircuts; people talking, smiling, jogging and children playing. These are the common needs of survival, he said--a normalization of life in extreme conditions. It is necessary to the human psyche in order to avoid extreme hopelessness.

Badagliacca spent time with the migrants, talked with them, and approached them in a positive way, making photographing them easy. In fact, he said many of the people wanted to be photographed, or “take a selfie for Facebook.”

Most of all, he said, they want to talk, and they want someone to listen. In their attempt at a normal life, human interaction is a necessity.

The first photograph in the series, a black-and-white shot of a small girl on a swing, was used by Badagliacca as a “psychological exit strategy.” He wanted to show something positive, stating: “You can find beautiful things, even in dramatic situations.”

#rewind