The Top 100 NGOs 2013. - Akshaya Patra

THE BOUNdARIES OF LIFE
on borderS
osTkreuz agency PhoTograPhers
haTJe canTz
€38.00
They offer protection, lead to war,
limit freedom or enable it; they have
always been there and will continue
to exist: borders. Hardly anything else
is as socially ambivalent, as timeless
and as relevant. The Ostkreuz Agency
was founded when what was probably
the most important border in the
history of Germany – the Berlin Wall
– disappeared. Two decades later, its
photographers set out on a search
for today’s frontiers. Their pictures
portray groups of indigenous peoples
battling for their land in Canada,
homosexuals in Palestine seeking exile
in the enemy country of Israel, and
the discovery of state identity in South
Sudan. The focus is always on people:
how do boundaries influence their
everyday lives?
The gloBal review + illusTraTeD Books The gloBal review + illusTraTeD Books
On Borders covers many borders
dissecting the planet, but there are some
that seem less recognized: European
borders. Many European Union (EU)
citizens have experienced a changing
and expanding border as EU territory
is extended. Most who enter the EU
illegally still elect to take the route from
Turkey to Greece, which leads across
the Evros River or along a country road.
But the days when countries tried to
halt these migrants with barbed wire,
police and guard dogs are over. Ever
since the advent of the Frontex Agency,
a kind of common EU border patrol,
technology is being upgraded along the
edges of Europe.
Using infrared cameras, motion
detectors and electric fences –
The gloBal Journal + January & FeBruary 2013
alarmingly resembling human traps
– more and more immigrants are being
turned away. But still more are taking
their chances. In 2011, according
to Frontex’s report, the number of
individuals arrested rose by 35 percent
from 104,000 in 2010 to 141,000 in
2011. In the future, the organization
plans to use robots and drones. Walking
in Athens today, one can see an
increasing number of illegal immigrants
wandering the streets, looking for any
opportunity to eat and make a living.
On Borders is made by exceptional
journalists using their cameras to
inspire us to observe and reflect. We
need more books like this.
- JCN
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