A Malian football player reacts to his team’s 3-0 against a team from Ivory Coast, Nador, Morocco, June 3, 2014. Football offers a popular pastime for the thousands of sub-Saharan migrants that camp here on the Gourougou Hill overlooking the Spanish exclave Melilla. They wait for their chance to cross the three rows of fences towards Melilla and thus making it to the European Union. Spanish authorities recently ramped up security measures and announced that it will spend 2,1 Million Euros to fortify the border between Morocco and Melilla and Ceuta, the other Spanish exclave in the North African country.

Daniel Etter

41,000 Kilometers

[ EPF 2014 SHORTLIST ]

41,000 Kilometers is the length of the European Union’s southern sea and eastern land borders. Here, the EU has fortified itself against refugees and economic migrants trying to reach its prosperity and security. It is also the scene of the EU’s biggest failure. Since land borders are tightly controlled, refugees and migrants are forced towards the dangerous sea borders. This year, more than 70,000 people crossed the Mediterranean from North Africa to Italy – twice as many as in the whole of 2013. Since 2000, at least 23,000 people have died on this route. “41,000 Kilometers” documents the lives of those trying to enter the European Union illegally. It spans from Morocco over Libya, Turkey and Greece to Serbia.

The three rows of fence between Morocco and the Spanish exclave Melilla seen from the Spanish side, Melilla, Spain, June 7, 2014. Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa wait on the hill for their chance to cross the three rows of fences towards Melilla and thus making it to the European Union. Spanish authorities recently ramped up security measures and announced that it will spend 2,1 Million Euros to fortify the border between Morocco and Melilla and Ceuta, the other Spanish exclave in the North African country.

Migrants from the Ivory Coast train climbing with a self-made rope and hook in the unofficial migrant camp on the Gorougou Hill overlooking the Spanish exclave Melilla from Nador, Morocco, July 2, 2014. The migrants are planning to storm the nearby three rows of fences that mark the border between Melilla and Morocco. They use self-made ladders and ropes such as the one pictured here. Hundreds, sometimes thousands of migrants wait on the hill, some up to a year. Over time, a well-defined social structure has evolved in the camp. There are clear borders between national communities within the camp and each community has a “President” with a circle of advisers. To enter some communities, migrants have to pay an initial and a daily fee. Some are hierarchically and capitalist, some are more equal and socialist.

A man from Burkina Faso prays in a makeshift mosque in a migrant camp on the Gourougou Hill overlooking the Spanish exclave Melilla from Nador, Morocco, June 5 2014. Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa wait on the hill for their chance to cross the three rows of fences towards Melilla and thus making it to the European Union. Spanish authorities recently ramped up security measures and announced that it will spend 2,1 Million Euros to fortify the border between Morocco and Melilla and Ceuta, the other Spanish exclave in the North African country.

A sub-Saharan migrant overlooks a well where other migrants fetch water on the Gourougou Hill overlooking the Spanish exclave Melilla from Nador, Morocco, June 3, 2014. Thousands of migrants from sub-Saharan Africa wait on the hill for their chance to cross the three rows of fences towards Melilla and thus making it to the European Union. Spanish authorities recently ramped up security measures and announced that it will spend 2,1 Million Euros to fortify the border between Morocco and Melilla and Ceuta, the other Spanish exclave in the North African country.

Detained migrants from Eritrea gather at the barred entrance to their cell in a detention center near Gharyan, Libya, April 15, 2014. Many of the men say that the Italian Coast Guard intercepted them as they tried to illegally cross the Mediterranean from Libya towards Italy. They say, the Coats Guard put them on a cargo vessel and told them that they would be taken to Italy, but the vessel took them back to Tripoli, Libya. After the revolution, Libya has become the major launching point for irregular migrants to cross the Mediterranean. In the first three month of 2014, the Italian Coast Guard intercepted 15,000 people on the Mediterranean, compared to 750 in the same time last year.

A grafiti seen in a detention center for migrants and refugees in Tuweisha, Libya, April 21, 2014. According to Italian officials, 600,000 migrants and refugees are currently waiting in Libya to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe.

Eritrean migrants get transfered between detention centers, Subrata, Libya, April 21, 2014. After the revolution, Libya has become the major launching point for irregular migrants to cross the Mediterranean. In the first three month of 2014, the Italian Coast Guard intercepted 15,000 people on the Mediterranean, compared to 750 in the same time last year.

Jawaher, a 17-year-old Eritrean migrant, reacts to news of her mother’s death, Subrata, Libya, April 14, 2014. Two nights earlier, Jawaher and her mother tried to cross the Mediterranean on smuggler’s boat. When the police showed up, the group they were with was split. Jawaher’s mother drowned when trying to get on one of the boats. The police later found her dead body on the beach. Jawaher was arrested by the police. After the revolution, Libya has become the major launching point for irregular migrants to cross the Mediterranean. In the first three month of 2014, the Italian Coast Guard intercepted 15,000 people on the Mediterranean, compared to 750 in the same time last year.

Eritrean refugees and migrants sit in a detention center during a roll call, Subrata, Libya, April 21, 2014. According to Italian officials, 600,000 migrants and refugees are currently waiting in Libya to cross the Mediterranean towards Europe.

Shamzur Rahmat, 17, and other Afghan refugees work in a underground textile factory in Istanbul, Turkey, May 2, 2012. All the workers here are Afghan refugees. They make 70 Turkish Lira (40 USD) a week working more than 60 hours. Many of them safe money for traffickers to take them to Greece over the river Evros. The traffickers take between 600 and 2000 US Dollars. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

Afghan refugees have a tea brake in an underground textile factory in Istanbul, Turkey, May 14, 2012. All the workers here are Afghan refugees. They make 70 Turkish Lira (40 USD) a week working more than 60 hours. Many of them safe money for traffickers to take them to Greece over the river Evros. The traffickers take between 600 and 2000 US Dollars. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

Ibrahim, 15, an Afghan refugee who works in an underground factory seen during a tea break in Istanbul, Turkey, May 14, 2012. He has traveled alone from Afghanistan and now lives and work in this factory. Working more than 60 hours a week he makes 70 Turkish Lira (40 USD). He wants to travel further to Greece and finally Germany and saves money to pay smugglers to take him over the river Evros to Greece. The traffickers take between 600 and 2000 US Dollars. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.Over Facebook he found out that some of his Afghan friends have made it to Germany and are living in a refugee camp there.

Before he is about to leave Istanbul to illegally cross the river Evros into Greece, Mehdi, 16, an Afghan refugee, smokes a cigarette in a smuggler’s apartment, Istanbul, Turkey, June 1, 2012. Later that night Mustafa will try to cross the river in a small boat with five other Afghan refugees. Most of them can not swim. Just ten days earlier an Afghan family tried to do the same crossing and five out of thirteen dissapeared in the river when their boat drowned. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

Mustafa, 17, a refugee from Afghanistan looks over the Marmara Sea in Istanbul, Turkey, May 2, 2012. After a failed attempt to get from Athens, he returned without money and nothing more than his clothes to Istanbul. He and his friend Ali made it over the border, crossing the river Evros, but then ran out of money and could not find a way to travel from the border to Athens. Shivering, they have been waiting in this seaside park for hours to get picked up by a friend. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

After illegally crossing the river Evros from Turkey into Greece, a Bangladeshi refugee sits in a train to Athens at the station in Alexandroupoli, Greece, May 29, 2012. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

Young Afghan refugees linger in an apartment in Athens, Greece, April 13, 2012. They call the house they are staying in the Mafia Building. It is in a back alley in the Omonia District of Athens where street prostitution and heavy drug use are rampant. 13 people share this one overpriced room. Some of them have stayed in Greece for years unable to find steady work and unable to leave the country. Some of them crossed the river Evros between Turkey and Greece about a year earlier. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

Afghan women of three related families mourn the loss of loved ones who disappeared and most probably drowned trying to cross the river Evros between Greece and Turkey in an attempt to reach the safety of Europe, Athens, Greece, May 26, 2012. The group of thirteen tried to cross the river in the night from May 20 to 21, 2012 in a cheap rubber boat. Only one of them could swim. When the boat lost air and finally drowned in the middle of the river, five of the thirteen did not make it to the other side. Homeira Hasanpur (second to left) lost her husband. Fatima Rahimi (third to right) lost her 22-month-old son, her sister Parwin Rahimi (second to right) lost her 4-year-old daughter. Zohra Shafai (right) lost her 7-month-old son. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

Najib, 17, an Afghan refugee, looks out of a window in an apartment close to Omonia Square in downtown Athens, Greece, April 14, 2012. Najib fled Afghanistan more than two years ago because he was threatened by neighbors who fought with his family over land and Taliban who wanted to take revenge for his older brother being in the military. Unable to go to school, work or even leave his home, he fled to Europe seeking a safe life. Now he is one of thousand of Afghan and other refugees stuck in Greece with slim chances to get Asylum here or travel to another European country. Najib shares one room with 12 other Afghans in a back alley where heavy drug use and prostitution are rampant. Najib shares one room with 12 other Afghans in a back alley where heavy drug use and prostitution are rampant. Najib crossed the river Evros between Turkey and Greece about a year earlier. The land border between the two countries has become the main illegal entry point for refugees going to Europe according to Frontex, the European Union’s border policing agency. In 2011 that amounted to more than 55,000 people who were detected, a 17 percent rise from the year before.

Zahir (left) and Khabir, illegal Afghan immigrants, wake up after a night in a makeshift tent that was partly destroyed by police a few nights earlier, Subotica, Serbia, Nov. 10, 2012. Zaher lost his legs below the knees. He says that Taliban cut them off. He made it to Serbia on crotches and one proestetic leg. Zaher says he is 16 and Habir 15 years-old. Many illegal immigrants try to get from Greece through the Balkans to northern parts of the European Union. Recently, Serbian police deported many refugees from here to Macedonia.

Khabir, an illegal Afghan immigrant, wakes up after a night in a makeshift camp that was partly destroyed by police, Subotica, Serbia, Nov. 10, 2012. Habir says he is 15 years-old. Many illegal immigrants try to get from Greece through the Balkans to northern parts of the European Union. Recently, Serbian police deported many refugees from here to Macedonia.

Many illegal immigrants try to get from Greece through the Balkans to northern parts of the European Union. Recently, Serbian police deported many refugees from here to Macedonia.

Khabir (left) and Zahir, illegal Afghan immigrants, sit at a fire while Zaher prays, Subotica, Serbia, Nov. 10, 2012. Zaher lost his legs below the knees. It was amputated due to freezing. He made it to Serbia on crotches and one proestetic leg. Zaher says he is 16 and Habir 15 years-old. The two have been traveling together from Greece. Many illegal immigrants try to get from Greece through the Balkans to northern parts of the European Union. Recently, Serbian police deported many refugees from here to Macedonia.

Bio

Daniel Etter is a freelance photographer, feature writer and videographer currently based in Berlin, Germany. He is a graduate of the German School of Journalism, holds a master degree in political science, a university diploma in journalism and is a recipient of the Kathryn Davis Fellowship for Peace.

His photography has appeared in The New York Times, TIME Magazine, Newsweek, Stern and many others. His photo from the Gezi Park Protests in Istanbul was chosen as one of the best photos of 2013 by TIME and The New York Times. He was awarded with the Award of Excellence of the Alexia Foundation, has been nominated for the UNICEF Picture of the Year Award and won an Award of Excellence at Pictures of the Year International.

His writing has appeared in several major German publications such as Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Financial Times Germany, zeit.de, Neon and various others. For his stories he has received the Axel Springer Award and the Hans Buchrucker Award.

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Daniel Etter