Magazines
TV Schedule
Disney+
National Geographic
National Geographic
National Geographic
Science
Travel
Animals
Culture & History
Environment
Science
Travel
Animals
Culture & History
Environment
Photographer Page
Ziyah Gafic
A young Pakistan man rests next to his bag and airs his feet while crossing the Plješevica mountain en route to Croatia.
Migrants gather around the power station in a temporary reception center in Lipa, an abandoned mountain village above the town of Bihac. Hundreds stay in these tents, but they do little to shelter residents from the severe winters in this part of the country.
Muslim migrants take a moment to pray in an makeshift encampment where they live while tracing their way to western Europe, where they believe the promise of a better life awaits. They call this journey "the game."
Bosnian police are seen forcibly offloading migrants and refugees from the train between Sarajevo and Bihać, the region where many stay, even though they had tickets. According to photographer Ziyah Gafic, the migrants and refugees transiting through Bosnia are often kicked off buses and trains.
An activist named Azra Velagić Macić distributes food to a group of people from Morocco and Algeria. Despite its own past of strife and displacement, Bosnia has not been as welcoming to displaced people as some, including photographer Ziyah Gafic, had hoped.
Volunteers with the International Red Cross provide basic first aid to migrants walking to the border with Croatia. The state response has been fractures, and largely dependent on the help provided by international organisations.
Many of the migrants transiting through Bosnia are men, particularly young men from countries like Pakistan, Afghanistan, and elsewhere in the Middle East. They walk great distances, sometimes across entire countries, to reach the European Union.
Two migrants cross the Drina river between Bosnia and Serbia. When winter approaches, the Drina becomes increasingly dangerous to cross, yet it is still the most common path from Serbia to Bosnia.
Moroccan asylum-seekers cook a meal in a factory where they're currently squatting. A fractured government has made the Bosnian response to the migrant crisis difficult—and left many behind to fend for themselves.
A group of migrants washes their clothes and bathes in a small, polluted stream. Nearby, in an abandoned factory, they built a makeshift settlement. With official migrant transit centers often full, some are forced to live outdoors without access to clean water, health services, and food.