Cinzia D'Ambrosi

Hate Hurts projects investigates and exposes violence from European governments’ own security forces against refugees and asylum seekers . The ongoing project spans four year, reporting from the Balkan region, mostly along borders areas. In the quest to investigate the enormity and the structure surrounding the violence inflicted on refugees, the project exposes visual and audio recording accounts. "Even where access has been very difficult, I entered centres where securities had denied me access, in squatted building, abandoned premises, in uncharted areas and in forests along the borders of Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. Often, in very limited time, I met with refugees and recorded their visible scars, their photographs of wounds and aftermaths episodes of destruction of possessions (such as mobiles, tents, clothes, shoes). I created a dedicated website where these accounts are uploaded as well as material that refugees send to me to publish."- Cinzia says. The accounts recorded are horrendous: dogs unleashed to bite, bones broken, knees smashed with electric batons, knives, skin being pulled ‘like a Kosher’. The project also exposes the violence of indefinite limbo conditions on refugees' emotional and psychological well-being. The scale of physical violence and the psychological harm is not abating, rather recent accounts in Bosnia Hercegovina point to heightened cruelty from Croatia police. The scale of violence is so widespread, that women and children have also been indiscriminately subjected to. The Hate Hurts project brings to light the existing and systematic ongoing violence to campaign for it to stop.

Hate Hurts projects investigates and exposes structural violence against refugees and asylum seekers from European governments’ own security forces. I began this project in Greece in 2015 and since then, I have travelled back and forth in the Balkan region, mostly along borders areas. In my quest to investigate the enormity and the structurality of the violence inflicted on refugees, I have been recording accounts even where access has been very difficult. I entered centers where securities had denied me access, been in squatted building, abandoned premises and in uncharted areas, in forests along the borders of Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. My reporting has taken place in the form of audio recording, photographs and videos. Often in very limited time, I met with refugees and recorded their visible scars, their photographs of wounds and aftermaths episodes of destruction of possessions (such as mobiles, tents, clothes, shoes). I have created a dedicated website where these accounts are uploaded as well as material that refugees send to me to publish. The accounts that I have recorded are horrendous: dogs unleashed to bite, bones broken, knees smashed with electric batons, knives, skin being pulled ‘like a Kosher’. Humiliation is another tactic adopted by border police; being left naked in the cold winter weather to walk to the nearest village. And also emotional and psychological trauma caused by indefinite detention and limbo conditions. The effects of these on emotional well being is tangible. The scale of physical violence and the psychological harm is not abating, rather recent accounts that I took in Bosnia Hercegovina point to heightened cruelty, and this time from Croatia police. The scale of violence is so widespread, that women and children have being also undiscriminately subjected to. I am working on the Hate Hurts project to bring to light the existing ongoing violence and this must stop. I am also bringing to attention how violence is systematic and linked to political nationalistic and populist gains strongly gaining ground in Europe. Collectively we need to be aware of the danger of this.

Since 2015, I have chronicled the personal costs of psychological and physical violence against refugees and asylum seekers. Working across Europe, in Greece, Italy, Hungary, Iceland and Serbia, I have documented the psychological harm that refugees suffer as they wait for their status to be cleared and endure the impenetrability of bureaucracy, detention and physical violence. Refugees and asylum seekers face violence from the moment they try to cross one of Europe's borders, when they wait for formal protection. The EU's continuous failure to handle the flow of refugees has only increased violence, push-backs (illegal practice of forcibly sending back asylum seekers once they cross a border) and abusive practices by organised criminals, those with links to the far right and institutional violence, most often carried out by European government’s own security forces. Hate Hurts The scale and the repercussion are still under-reported, while unscrupulous media reporting and the use of these for political gain have created further misery for refugees and migrants. Portrayed as job snatchers, invaders and terrorists, they are systematically kept away from a normal life in a web of impenetrable bureaucracy, prejudice and racism, part of a large mechanism of control. With ‘Hate Hurts’ I am highlighting the negative impact of racism, prejudice and violence on the lives of refugees and migrants in Europe. By exposing these crimes, whether silent of viciously marked on the bodies of the victims, I am hoping that awareness will help to prevent and stop them. .

For many families in Lavrion, a refugee camp about 40 Kilometers from Athens, life is at a standstill. After perilous journeys, painful separations and memories, they are hoping for a better life. The camp is primarily home to people of Turkish and Kurdish origin and many in fact have reached it through a journey that saw them crossing the Maritsa River from Turkey. Some had been in Turkey for a while but the conditions were so devastating that led them to leave again. Families including children were working for many hours, with very little pay, often beaten or maltreated. In light of these stories, it is rather difficult to imagine that the refugee in Lavrion have been suspected to be involved in terrorist activities. The camp has been raided more than once by the Greek police on the line that the occupants may belong to the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front/Party (DHKP/C) and involved in terrorist activities. Continuous discussions between the governments of Turkey and Greece on the closure of the camp and the control of its population is still ongoing.

Criminalising help for refugees has been the decisive factor for Viktor Orban’s government victory and its growing authoritarianism. And since the election the nationalist government has introduced a number of legislation that are eroding existing civil liberties. This project began in April when a new government was to be elected. There was exuberance in the street as increasingly people in Budapest thougth that they had a hope and a chance that the government of Fidesz was to be defeated. On the night of the election, I took photographs at the two sides; supporters of Fidesz and those supporting for the People’s Movement. The joy and the display of nationalism on one side contrasted greatly with the tears of despair and utter disbelief on the other side. The reality is that rhethoric on migration and the fear of cultural eradication through Muslim identities have taken a great toll on the population outside of Budapest. Even if, the government of Hungary has only accepted very few refugees and it has a no acceptance policy in place, it has tapped on to the population’s security, economic fears and cultural eradication to the level that spontaneously many have volunteered to police the borders. In Assothalom the major of the town has enlisted its own border hunters. Hungary’s is continuing to introduce anti-democratic legislations and for the first time in Europe, a University, the Central European University backed by Soros in Budapest, has been forced to relocate because of mounting political pressure. The anti-Soros, anti-migration government has been attacking the very open and progressive view that it represents. Recently the government introduction of what has been dubbed as ‘slave’ law has sparked turmoil and for the first time in a very long time, the population was alive and hopeful for a new beginning. The struggle for democracy has perhaps began.

Hate Hurts projects investigates and exposes structural violence against refugees and asylum seekers from European governments’ own security forces. I began this project in Greece in 2015 and since then, I have travelled back and forth in the Balkan region, mostly along borders areas. In my quest to investigate the enormity and the structurality of the violence inflicted on refugees, I have been recording accounts even where access has been very difficult. I entered centers where securities had denied me access, been in squatted building, abandoned premises and in uncharted areas, in forests along the borders of Hungary, Croatia and Serbia. My reporting has taken place in the form of audio recording, photographs and videos. Often in very limited time, I met with refugees and recorded their visible scars, their photographs of wounds and aftermaths episodes of destruction of possessions (such as mobiles, tents, clothes, shoes). I have created a dedicated website where these accounts are uploaded as well as material that refugees send to me to publish. The accounts that I have recorded are horrendous: dogs unleashed to bite, bones broken, knees smashed with electric batons, knives, skin being pulled ‘like a Kosher’. Humiliation is another tactic adopted by border police; being left naked in the cold winter weather to walk to the nearest village. And also emotional and psychological trauma caused by indefinite detention and limbo conditions. The effects of these on emotional well being is tangible. The scale of physical violence and the psychological harm is not abating, rather recent accounts that I took in Bosnia Hercegovina point to heightened cruelty, and this time from Croatia police. The scale of violence is so widespread, that women and children have being also undiscriminately subjected to. I am working on the Hate Hurts project to bring to light the existing ongoing violence and this must stop. I am also bringing to attention how violence is systematic and linked to political nationalistic and populist gains strongly gaining ground in Europe. Collectively we need to be aware of the danger of this.

W12 Festival.

Dale Farm travelers lose their latest appeal to save Dale Farm, an Irish Traveller halting site on Oak Lane in Crays Hill. The site houses over 1,000 people. It was the site of one of the largest Traveller concentrations in the UK. Basildon District Council conducted a ten year legal challenge to evict the Travellers at the site, citing expansion into the area considered green belt. In 2011 the site became a battleground when the council decided to bring in police officers to remove activists and residents from the site.

Crowded houses or overcrowding is a large problem affecting hundreds of thousands of people. It directly causes various other problems and catalyses others.In London alone, there are over 220,000 households reported as overcrowded.The negative effects that overcrowded housing has on families are numerous. Cramped conditions greatly affect the quality of life; hygiene is compromised along with privacy, schooling and relationships.

Amid the serious economic and political upheavals gripping Europe, a great number of social movements have emerged, particularly in Southern Europe from Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy. ‘La Murga’ has began just in this spirit as a social radical movement, born from the dis-affectation of local youths in a town in South of Italy, Battipaglia, on the outskirts of the Triangle of Death, the largest illegal waste dumb in Europe and so called for the large number of cancer related deaths, an area ridden with social and economic problems. Inspired by the Argentinian Carnival dance, la Murga speaks of freedom from oppression rooted in the only day when slaves were permitted to joke about their bosses and to dance and play music. It is about taking control of the street from corruption, injustice, marginalisation with a positive fun like approach. “From the outside people just see the clowns and the street performances. People come out, laugh and join us. Some children are teenagers now. They have grown with La Murga. We don’t talk about politics but we do politics. We defend human rights and we bring attention to local and international injustices”. The group rehearse their dance and music in targeted inner cities areas struggling with poverty, crimes and high unemployment. In this way, they hope to bring to the attention the issues that those areas face as well as invite the unprivileged to join. “Some children have not had any music lessons in their lives due to the lack of resources in their schools. In very deprived areas some don’t even go to school”. The principle is an economy based on sharing skills, without money. The social centres such as ‘Il Giardino Liberato’ in Naples is an example of this, where different people offer their skills to the community without money involved. It is a commitment to a self-organised struggle as the city under the major Luigi Magistris has taken the direct role in national movements of student protests, anti-was marches, anti-austerity and for general strikes. Pivotal in the idea that young people active in the social centres are less likely to fall in the hands of local organised criminal groups, the city has had almost a blank paper on the occupation of unused spaces. It has become a lifestyle built on unity as a strength, political activism which sees La Murga taking a central part. “We fight for the environment. We go out together and bring attention with our colourful clothes and music.” La Murga has also been very active in the message of embracing multiculturalism by going to refugee centres to invite refugee and asylum seekers to join them. “Many organisations speak about integration but they don’t do much practically. I think we have achieved a lot more by inviting refugees and asylum seekers to play with us. They have become friends.”

Every year, the Shia Muslim mourn the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, grandson of prophet Muhammed. For the first ten days of Muharram, muslims dress in black, gather in Mosques and form processions in the streets. Many hurt themselves to express their grief. I was in Iran during this period and I have taken picture of one of these events in the street of Teheran.

Homelessness is a vast problem in the UK exacerbated by a growing poverty and shortage of housing. With nowhere to go, millions are forced to live in temporary accommodations and in overcrowded and inadequate conditions whilst on council housing waiting lists. The project Transitional captures these grim realities allowing the viewer into the lives of Britain's hidden homeless: people stuck in hostels, B&B and temporary flats. It represents a dramatic crisis because many are left in temporary, provisional situations for an unacceptable long time. Some had been in limbo for two years or more, and that has a lot of physical and psychological repercussions for them. The impact is great.

The Other Half is a collection of photo stories exposing the realities of women and children in hidden homelessness in Britain. The project captures their lives of displacement, unsuitable living spaces. Women and children have been hit hard from the economic crisis and lack of homes. Many are left in unprotected and vulnerable situations following marriage breakdown, domestic abuse etc. Their presence among those homeless and in temporary shelters are in large numbers.

Battipaglia is a town in the Campania region in the South of Italy. The town is one of the many in the area destroyed by camorra (local mafia). Everywhere there are signs of urban decay, which is only the visible part of a degeneration that goes well beyond it. Camorra has taken away vital infrastructures: schools and health clinics have closed down, parks and playgrounds are unsafe or no existent. the society is plagued by problems caused by unemployment and criminality, whilst corruption unables to improve the area. Recently, the news that waste management is in the hands of camorra came afore internationally, however for years toxic waste has been dumped on this land. Battipaglia is not an unique place in a country that is losing its battle to corruption and criminality. This is the first part of a photographic journey that I hope would shed some light to Italy today.

A mother's struggle to keeping her child alive after being born with a series of major physical impairments and unknown medical condition. Malvina's life is marked by doctors appointments and hospital stay and the continuous stress of whether her child will survive.

Few years have gone by from the war and the generation of young people are fighting prejudices and building the foundation for a different society. Vedad and his friends in Sarajevo are an example of this feeling. Vedad's father working for the UN now and his friends' fathers were fighting against each other during the war. Yet, today they are able to joke about it. They want to leave all this behind. They go to the same university and their love for music unites them as well their hopes for a better future. They do look at the rest of Europe with envy because they feel they are missing opportunities. Bosnia lacks infrastructure to cater for their needs and a lot of young people feel marginalised by having to work to sustain their families. But there is a fighting spirit that makes them take initiatives. For instance, together with other youths they opened a youth centre in one of the buildings that was scattered by the war and Radio Stari Grad that was once the symbol of resistance during the war is running ever more.

Borders are very interesting both as a concept and as a geopolitical reality. I have an interest in taking pictures at border towns, checkpoints and in general in those spaces that in many ways make them different. Borders people retain an identity often of more than one country. Borders seem to defy laws as much as enforce them very much. This project is about capturing the feeling that border places have, their lawless, timeless and ambiguous quality

From Greece, I made my way to the South of Italy. The majority of refugees and asylum seekers have made their journey from Libya to Sicily, where those that are registered are sent to various centres in Italy. Violence takes many forms and through this project I am hoping to shed a light at how institutions and governments policies alike are inflicting psychological violence. When refugees come into our shores have already experienced displacement, violence and trauma. They need safety and security, yet they often encounter bureaucratic walls, violent policies that detain, force them to live in a limbo for months on end and deny them of psychological, physical support. I spent some time at the Centro Astalli Sud and Rodopa in Battipaglia where refugees, mostly from Africa have been transferred from Sicily. I learned of the painful ordeals of an existence in fear of being killed in conflict, wars, extreme poverty and hunger. For many, there was no way out but to flee. Fleeing conflicts and extreme poverty, many have endured torture, segregation in Libya and a constant fear for their lives; “Anybody could use a gun in Libya. It is lawless, they could kill us and not be prosecuted. Even children are carrying a gun.” Today, they are left dealing with their psychological scars. The physical torture may go away but the emotional toll needs a different care.

Bureaucratic violence shows in a codified symbolism. I think once assimilated in the fabric of society, it sinks in as a norm. The 'official' place of 'shelter'for refugees and asylum seekers seems to have fences, walls, securities, armed police, institutionalised spaces. The message points to 'these are dangerous people'. When I saw Ellinikon, the disused international airport in Greece transformed into a massive informal refugee shelter, I thought it was a scene from a film, totally unreal. I felt this was a vast prison. People were outside the balcony overlooking and then the fence around the space..looking across. Me and them, such an overwhelming feeling of shame. Ellinikon, Greece