NEW DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY FROM FRANCE: Calais Illegal Immigrants ‘Go To England’ By Emmanuel Fradin At GAIA Photos

Most of the migrants are Afghan, Eritrean, Pakistani and Palestinian boys, among others, and are younger than 18 years old.

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France: Calais Illegal Immigrants. ‘Go to England’, is a feature story by France's Emmanuel Fradin now appearing on Gaia Photos.

As photojournalist Emmanuel Fradin explains, "Calais, northern France, is a gathering point of migrants from all around the world. They can number up to 1500 at one time and most have walked for miles before reaching the harbor. Calais is the last stop before they realize their goal: England.

Further, Fradin reports that, "In 2002, the refugee camp located in Sangatte was closed by the French authorities. Instead of ending the problem, the closure of the camp displaced the migration directly into Calais. Now, the refugees wander the streets of the town and build huts in the nearby forests and industrial sites. During the day, they wait on a waste ground for food offered by charities, and by night they try to crawl under the trucks that ship to England. When they fail to elude French and English customs, they go back to the forest."

Emmanuel Fradin visited Calais and the surrounding forest for his photo documentary France: Calais Illegal Immigrants. ‘Go to England’, now appearing on GAIA PHOTOS, a new international photography source of nearly 60 photojournalists from around the world whose mission is to promote quality and diversity in documentary photography.

Please visit us and see other photo stories on Gaia Photos by Emmanuel Fradin, or visit his website. You can also search Gaia Photos for assignment photographers and subscribe to our continually updated new features page too!

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Police Brutality: Ecuador Photojournalist Daniel Patiño Flor Assaulted By Police In Athens Greece

Here is some distressing news about Daniel Patino Flor, a fellow member of a now defunct photojournalism collective many of us belonged to over a year ago. He is a great guy and in the words of Morten Svenningsen, current director of the new Gaia Photos photojournalist group, Daniel Patino Flor is a "great talent".

Thank-you to LIGHTSTALKER Kat Christofer who translated the following story from Greek to English that appeared here.

START

Daniel Patino Flor arrived in Athens May 14 to photograph the city for 10 days. On May 22, Muslim immigrants were protesting the alleged event of a Greek policeman tearing pages of a Quor’an and throwing it on the ground. Greek police immediately appeared on the scene to begin a violent crackdown.

Flor was stopped, hit in the legs, handcuffed, had his camera inspected along with his passport and credentials, and was eventually released. Later, while observing the protest and arrests being made, he was jumped from behind, pushed into a van and taken to police detention with other detainees, including a 13-year-old boy.

At the station, Greek police took his camera and told him in English, “F#ck you, f#ck your mother” then drew a knife and said “I will cut off your b@lls & f#ck you in the @ss” in front of 50 other policemen on the elevator while everyone laughed and thanked him for the performance.

On a different floor, he was kicked in the ankles, stomach, chest, head and neck, which was repeated in between Flor’s requests to speak with a senior officer. Six hours passed and sometime after midnight, his camera was returned but the memory cards deleted.

Friends in Athens helped him reach the Embassy of Ecuador and a lawyer, who told him that his photos were saved on a DVD and he would likely be accused of “wreaking disorder” the next day, which he was.

In court papers, police claimed Flor was one of 12 people who incited the riot, but it was never mentioned that Flor was a photojournalist from Ecuador studying in Barcelona for his post graduate degree. Once these details were made known by his lawyer, he was released and his 24 hours in detention had ended. However, trial is pending this week.

END

If you'd like to offer your support to Daniel here is his email:

daniel_patino_flor@yahoo.com

Daniel Patiño Flor Beaten By Greek Police
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